The four appellants (Bradley David Rogers, Colin Martin Samuels, Geraldine French, and Mark Julian Bell) were charged and convicted for their roles in two advance fee frauds. Both frauds were operated by Muldoon (not included in the appeal), who pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to 7 years and 5 months’ imprisonment. Muldoon employed UK nationals at call centers in Spain or Turkey in either an advance fee fraud scheme that involved debt elimination or an advance fee fraud scheme that involved escort services. These debt elimination and escort services were promoted and advertised online on websites and offline in the national press. UK consumers responded to these advertisements and paid an advanced fee to receive the advertised services. For the escort services fraud, the consumers were asked to pay for a registration fee in order to secure a date and obtain escort services. Once the so-called registration fee was paid, the date with the escort was cancelled and no other dates were made available. The debt elimination fraud involved employees from the call centers cold-calling UK consumers from a list the centers purchased from data providers. For a fee, consumers were fraudulently promised the elimination of their debt.
Spain
TürkiyeUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandCrown Court
Muldoon pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to 7 years and 5 months’ imprisonment.
Bradley David Rogers, Colin Martin Samuels, Geraldine French, and Mark Julian Bell received 2 years and 10 months’ imprisonment, 5 years and 6 months’ imprisonment, 6 years and 5 months’ imprisonment, and 6 years and 6 months’ imprisonment, respectively.
England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
The appellant Bradley David Rogers appealed his conviction arguing, among other things, that the UK Proceeds of Crime Act of 2002 does not have an extraterritorial effect. The appellant argued that the acts that led to the property becoming “criminal property” took place outside of the United Kingdom and impacted victims outside the United Kingdom. The court disagreed and held that the mechanics of the fraud took place in the UK and impacted UK victims. If the mechanics of the fraud occurred in Spain and impacted Spanish victims, the court would not claim jurisdiction over this crime. However, this was not the case. The acts predominantly took place in England, including the deprivation of UK victims’ monies. The court thus held that there was jurisdiction to apply the provisions of the act, particularly the money laundering provisions under Section 340(11)(d). The funds that were obtained pursuant to the advance fee frauds in the United Kingdom were considered by the court as “criminal property once they reached a bank account in the UK controlled by the conspirators, those proceeds did not cease to be criminal property when they arrived in the appellant's bank account in Spain.”
The other appellants (Colin Martin Samuels, Geraldine French, and Mark Julian Bell) appealed their sentences as “manifestly excessive” when compared to the sentences of their co-defendants. The court stated that the offense they were all convicted for (i.e., conspiracy to defraud) carried with it a 10-year maximum penalty. The court noted that Colin Martin Samuels, Geraldine French, and Mark Julian Bell were all considered as “trustworthy accomplices,” playing critical roles in the completion of the advance fee frauds. Muldoon’s advanced age (late 60s), ill-health, and guilty plea were taken into account, which resulted in a lower sentence (7 years and 5 months imprisonment). The court found that mitigating factors were also taken into consideration for each of the appellants. The court ultimately held that the sentences were not “manifestly excessive” and there was no “unfair disparity” in the sentences received by these appellants.
The court dismissed the appeals.
Colin Martin Samuels was responsible for recruitment, receiving and distributing money obtained pursuant to the advanced fee frauds. He played a role in the debt elimination fraud.
Geraldine French was an administrator of the principal advanced fee frauds based in Spain. She communicated with co-conspirators about the advance fee frauds, participated in the deception of targets and others involved in the fraud, and moved money obtained from these cybercrimes when directed by Muldoon. Like Bradley David Rogers, she transferred small amounts of money to bypass anti-money laundering measures.
Muldoon, the principal of the advance fee frauds, would consult Mark Julian Bell, Who predominantly operated in the UK. Mark Julian Bell was an active participant in both advance fee frauds, recruiting individuals to act as directors in the fraudulent companies and using his own companies to facilitate the frauds in some way (i.e., providing communication resources to the call centers).
Bradley David Rogers served as the lieutenant of the principal of the advanced fee frauds in Spain. He tried to bypass anti-money laundering mechanisms by transferring small portions of the monies made by perpetrating these frauds into his accounts (one of which was controlled by Muldoon).
Conspiracy to defraud
Conspiracy to defraud
Conspiracy to defraud
Conspiracy to defraud
Section 327(1)(c) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
Money laundering
England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
R v Rogers [2014] EWCA Crim 1680
