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Four organised crime gang members jailed for drugs and money laundering offences

|News, Fraud and economic crime

Four gang members have been imprisoned at Southwark Crown Court today (5 September 2022) for industrial scale cannabis production, money laundering and fraud.

My Ha Do (DOB: 18/2/21) was found guilty of five counts of offences including supply of drugs, fraud and money laundering and has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Hanh Tuyet Nguyen (DOB: 6/5/79) was found guilty of five counts of fraud and money laundering offences and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Huyen Phoung Thi Phan (DOB: 13/11/86) was found guilty of one count of money laundering and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. The fourth gang member, Thi Ngoc Nguyen (DOB: 29/3/91) was convicted of two counts of money laundering and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

All four defendants are originally from Vietnam and were members of an organised criminal gang.

Ha Do was at the top of the hierarchy of the crime gang involved in large scale growing and supply of cannabis. In addition to the drugs offending the police investigation and prosecution team uncovered evidence of arranging sham marriages and the production of false identity documents for the movement of Vietnamese individuals for people trafficking purposes.

Ha Do was also revealed to be a key player in the gang’s money laundering offending as she directed the movement of funds and gave advice on how to avoid banks’ money laundering controls and regulations.

Hanh Nguyen ran the gang’s sophisticated money laundering operation, setting up numerous bank accounts and creating a clothing business as a means of integrating cash from these organised crimes into the banking system.

Phan occupied a key role as what is known as a layering money launderer in the gang, using the business that Hanh Nguyen had set up to as a channel for the movement of criminal money to Vietnam.

Thi Nguyen allowed her bank accounts to be used for the transfer of criminal money.

Kevin Hansford of the CPS said: “This was a highly sophisticated criminal gang who used devious and complex methods to hide the activities of their industrial scale illegal drugs production and their profits through the money laundering of this dirty cash via business fronts.

“They did not just stop there, but they were heavily involved in fake marriages and false identity documents which was for the sole purpose of people trafficking.

“I would like to thank the tireless work of the police investigators in this case who worked in partnership with the prosecution team to dismantle and stop an organised criminal gang whose drug activities were no doubt blighting communities and neighbourhoods.

“We will be pursuing ill-gotten gains from these proceeds of crime.”

The CPS is committed to working with police investigators to stop the activities of highly organised criminal gangs and bring them to justice.

Notes to editors

  • Kevin Hansford is a Unit Head Prosecutor for the CPS Serious Economic Organised and International Directorate (SEOCID)
  • SEOCID was launched on 1 April 2022 and is the CPS’s response to the changing nature of crime by bringing together specialists in organised and economic crime as the lines in these areas of crime continue to become more blurred.  
  • My Ha Do (DOB: 18/2/91) was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, two counts of converting criminal property, one count of transferring criminal property and one count of possession of criminal property and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a disqualification for being a director
  • Hanh Tuyet Nguyen (DOB: 6/5/79) was found guilty of five counts including converting criminal property and concealing criminal property and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a disqualification for being a director
  • Huyen Phoung Thi Phan (DOB: 13/11/86) was found guilty of concealing criminal property and sentence to 18 months' imprisonment
  • Thi Ngoc Nguyen (DOB: 29/3/91) was found guilty of transferring criminal property and possession of criminal property and sentence to 10 months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months and 100 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months.

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