Brighton driving instructor jailed over £250k mystery (From The Argus)

Brighton driving instructor jailed over £250k mystery

7:00am Thursday 25th June 2009 in

By Alison Cridland »

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A playboy driving instructor who amassed a quarter of a million pounds in cash claimed he earned it all through “hard work” and bootsales.

Detectives who raided Andrew Turner’s home found bank notes stashed around his home and jewellery hidden in wardrobes.

The 41-year-old had spent more than £80,000 on a holiday home in Cyprus and a total of £30,000 on lavish holidays.

But Turner, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years admitted five charges of money laundering between 2003 to 2007, claims there was nothing dishonest about where the money came from.

He said he was a "cash-in-hand businessman" and he is only guilty of avoiding paying tax.

Yesterday Hove Crown Court was told that the money was hoarded over a number of years from his work as a driving instructor and a taxi driver as well as from renting rooms at his family home and doing car boot fairs and gambling.

Turner, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years for supplying ecstasy in nightclubs in 1994, was ordered to pay back £252,314 within six months or face serving a further three years in jail.

He currently has assets of £554,000.

Judge Austin Issard-Davies told Turner: "You were engaged in dealing with a quarter of a million pounds of illegal money. Beyond the conclusion I arrive at that your explanation is false, I have no knowledge of where that money has come from.

"If the money was shown to come from the sale of drugs the sentence I pass would be very much greater but it is nevertheless an enormous sum."

Neil Sandys, prosecuting, said Turner's family lifestyle did not match his declared income.

He said: "Investigations into their finances show a level of expenditure wholly out of proportion to their income."

He said detectives had not been able to trace where all the money came from.

He told the court Turner, who lived with his partner Sonia Goble and their two children, had legitimately filled in tax returns between 2003 and 2007 claiming he was earning between £30,000 and £43,000 from his work as a self-employed driving instructor and by renting out two taxis he owned.

But when police searched his home twice in 2007 after obtaining drug warrants they discovered thousands of pounds hoarded away.

In March they found jewellery kept in a safe in a bedroom wardrobe and the shoebox containing the cash was in a cupboard.

In October £16,865 cash was found at his home.

The investigation revealed he had spent more than £30,000 in five years on luxury holidays, including to Mexico, New York, Mauritius and a £6,000 trip to the Turks and Cacaos Islands.

In 2006 he sent £81,405 to Cyprus towards the cost of a holiday home.

He had also bought a string of cars, including a Honda, a mini and a Ford Focus. He also spent £15,000 on a taxi.

More than £76,000 was paid into his partner's bank account in 17 months He handed over £10,000 in carrier bags to friends who paid the cash into their accounts before handing back a cheque to Turner.

He paid out thousands on cash payments on his mortgage, including more than £12,000 in 2007.

Andrew Judge, defending, said: "He is a hard-working businessman.

Unfortunately his lifestyle has been built on the shifting sands of dishonesty."

He said Turner felt remorse for defrauding the public purse. He said he worked hard, up to 80 hours a week, and the offences were not connected with the previous history of drug dealing.

After the hearing Detective Sergeant Dennis Phelan welcomed the sentence. He said: "We can still not say where the source of this money has come from. He would just not provide an explanation."

Comments(44)

stan bailey says...
7:22am Thu 25 Jun 09

surprised he had time to teach anyone to drive