Yours Faithfully

February 2021 Martin Woods

As was reported by Kompli-Global last week, on Thursday September 9, Richard Jonathon Faithfull was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison for laundering the proceeds of crime. As far as I can recollect this is the first criminal money laundering conviction the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and before them the FSA have secured. So, who is and before this sentence was imposed, who was Richard Jonathon Faithfull?

Faithfull was engaged in helping an international organised crime group to launder the proceeds of ‘boiler room’ share frauds through a series of accounts. The FCA allege he used knowledge and experience gained from working in the regulated sector to help the fraudsters disguise their actions and steal funds from victims.

Faithfull was previously employed by Dowgate Capital Limited, a corporate broking and private client stockbroker in London, as well as Pello Capital Limited, another stock broking and investment business, regulated by the FCA. In each instance, Faithfull’s employment was approved by the FCA.

Using the Kompli-Global data it has been established, Faithfull subsequently set up and/or became a director as well as a shareholder of multiple companies incorporated in the UK, including:

• Berkeley Trading Corp Ltd
• Catalyst CM Limited
• Intercapital Global Ltd
• Intercapital Holdings Ltd
• Intercapital projects Management Ltd
• AMP FX Holdings Ltd

In every instance, a man called Massimiliano Turi, aka Max and Sir Massimiliano Turi is/was a shareholder with significant influence, of each company. In all but one instance the registered office for the above companies was 20-22 Wenlock Street, London N1 7GU. This is an address which has previously featured in a number of FCA fraud warning alerts and the Kompli-Global records reveal there are in excess of 70,000 companies registered at the address.

Of course, it does not mean all of the companies registered at this address are engaged in fraud, but the prevalence of the address in a number of investigations and allegations is a very bright red flag. It was Jeffrey Robinson, the author of the Laundrymen and The Sink who said, “Dirty money is like water, it seeks the course of least resistance.” Thus, it would appear launderers and fraudsters may have identified 20-22 Wenlock Street as a place of low or least resistance. Otherwise, it is merely an uncanny coincidence that the address featured so often in this particular case and many other cases.

Massimiliano Turi is shown to be an Italian man, born in 1971, the same man is currently awaiting trial in the US for offences of money laundering. The charge sheet connects all of the above companies to the case in the US and therefore connects 20-22 Wenlock Street. There were other directors who featured within the above companies, but the FCA have stated, Faithfull did use some innocent people within his criminal enterprise.

Importantly, it is the data behind the headline which can help financial crime and due diligence risk professionals to identify red flags and risks which may impact upon their businesses. Think of it in these terms, in the event money laundering was a virus, 20-22 Wenlock Street would have a very high R rate. Given there is no vaccine against money laundering, some financial crime and due diligence professionals will determine the best course of resistance to this particular strain of the money laundering virus is to stay away from 20-22 Wenlock Street.

If you want to learn more about Kompli-Global data and other addresses with high money laundering R rates, please take a look at our webpage and do get in touch.