‘I was convicted of money laundering after loaning a friend £50’
After innocently loaning her friend £50, Ebony King was convicted of money laundering.
Her family friend had promised to repay her, which he did, but he ended up transferring several hundred pounds more than the original £50 loan.
Startled by the amount transferred, Ms King quickly withdrew this money from her account and gave the excess amount back to her family friend.
The 32-year-old recalled the events that led her to being picked up by the police at just 19.
The mother of three had become a so-called money mule and was complicit in the handling of laundered money
A money mule is someone who lets criminals use their bank account to move money, a type of money laundering. A lot of the time, money mules are unwitting, and often don’t know what’s really happening.
They are either manipulated into believing a cover story or lured by an offer of payment.
Ms King told This is Money: “I called him immediately to let him know. He said it must have been an accident and could I please get the cash from the bank and give it back to him. I didn’t question it — I handed him the cash and thought that was the end of it.”
Six months passed without incident. But then, out of the blue, the police dramatically raided her mum’s house in Dagenham.
Ms King continued: “There was a loud bang at the door, and it was the police looking for me. I was so shocked and confused. They said they were going to arrest me and take me to the station but I didn’t know what for.”
She King later found out that the money her friend sent to her account was the proceeds of an online scam.
As the money was illegally obtained, she was complicit in money laundering.
The deceit of her friend landed her with a criminal record and convicted of concealing, converting, removing and transferring criminal property. Her family friend vanished and was never charged or convicted.
She said: “It could have ruined my life. They used me as a scapegoat and acted like I was the mastermind behind the operation.
“I was still a teenager. I got rejected for jobs and had a terrible credit rating for a very long time. I was lucky and found employers who listened to my story and understood what had happened.”
It emerged that the money sent to her account was the proceeds of an online scam. By allowing the money to sit in her account and cashing it out, Ebony had become a so-called money mule and complicit in the handling of laundered money.
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12 years later Ms King now has the confidence to speak out because her criminal record has finally cleared.
She found work as a patient adviser at the NHS and has had three children.
She has now partnered with Snapchat and Barclays to raise awareness of money mules and will be going into schools to teach pupils about the risks.
Barclays is issuing an urgent warning to university-goers at the start of the academic year, after new data reveals that cases of student money mules rose by 23 percent last October.
Ross Martin, Head of Digital Safety at Barclays, said: “Criminals will often set up fake profiles on social media, and make posts advertising quick cash or easy investments.
“Always be wary of people reaching out to you online with too-good-to-be-true opportunities, get-rich-quick schemes, and requests to pass money through your bank account.
“Remember, being a money mule can not only make it difficult to get credit down the line – like a student loan, phone contract, or mortgage – but you could also end up with a criminal record.”
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