The glamour model ex-girlfriend of boxer Joe Calzaghe is facing jail after being convicted of money laundering in a £100 million operation to smuggle cash to Dubai.
Jo-Emma Larvin, 44, took suitcases containing around £5m in cash through Heathrow Airport and on to flights to the United Arab Emirates in Autumn 2020.
Larvin, her partner Jonathan Johnson, 55, Amy Harrison, 27, and Beatrice Auty, 26, were all part of an operation to smuggle dirty money out of UK, knowing or suspecting it was the proceeds of criminal conduct as they agreed to act as “money mules”.
Larvin, who dated Welsh boxer Calzaghe for six years before they split in 2009, insisted during her trial that she believed the trips had been authorised by UAE embassy officials, and that the cases contained money and official documents.
But she was convicted by the jury of removing criminal property from the UK.
Judge Sarah Paneth released the guilty defendants on bail until their sentencing hearing.
A fifth defendant, Liam Rabone, 29, from West Kensington, was acquitted by the jury of a similar charge of removing criminal property from the UK.
The court heard the mastermind of the smuggling ring, Abdulla Alfalasi, 47, arranged 83 successful trips over 18 months involving cash “in the region of £100m”.
Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said suitcases contained up to £500,000 each, and couriers were paid £3000 for their efforts.
During the trial, Larvin was questioned over messages she exchanged with Johnson, including one admitting to being “nervous” about the trip, complaining about the number of suitcases she had been asked to take, and Johnson telling her to be “super careful”.
When she cleared security, he asked “all OK?”, and she replied: “Yes, phew”.
Alfalasi who is from Dubai, has been jailed for more than nine years for his involvement in the plot, while another mule, Tara Hanlon, 32, was handed a 34-month prison sentence.
Larvin told the trial she was recruited by a handler named Michelle, meeting in a coffee shop and agreeing to ferry suitcases to Dubai.
She took two trips, one with Johnson and another with Harrison.
The NCA said Auty made two trips to Dubai herself, smuggling £3.4 million, and she helped with the arrangements for 16 other ‘mule’ journeys.
Harrison made three trips between July and September 2020, taking 15 suitcases containing around £6 million.
The mules were part of a WhatsApp group called ‘Sunshine and Lollipops’ where arrangements were made, while cash was packed with coffee and air freshener to try to avoid detection by Border Agency sniffer dogs.
Larvin and Johnson, both of Ripon, North Yorks, Harrison, of Worcester Park, Surrey, and Auty, of Fulham, all denied but were convicted of removing criminal property from the UK.
Rabone, of West Kensington, denied and was cleared of the same charge.
In a statement, Rabone’s legal representatives Janes Solicitors said he is “delighted with his acquittal”.
The case is due back in court on Thursday to set sentencing dates.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre in the NCA, said: “The laundering of such vast quantities of cash around the globe enables organised criminals and corrupt elites to clean or hide their ill-gotten gains.
“Cash smugglers typically work on behalf of International Controller Networks, who move the finances of the international drug trade, people traffickers, fraudsters and other criminal groups, making the source of the money difficult to trace.
“The criminality this enables costs the UK billions every year, causes misery and ruins lives across the world.
“This case demonstrates the continued commitment by the NCA to crackdown on money laundering and close the vulnerabilities being exploited.”
