Although women make up 51% of the population of England and Wales, women only made up 15% of total arrests made by the police in 2019.
But women are more likely to be charged with a fraud or theft offence when arrested. Fraud and Theft offences making up 51% of crimes committed by women according the IZA World of Labour.
Our client, a woman registered as partially sighted, Miss N, was charged with fraud and money laundering by the Thames Valley Police.
Investigations into Miss N’s bank account transactions and where the money came from raised suspicions about the amount and source of the money flowing through her account.
Police conducted an investigation into our client and her husband that raised red flags for them, leading to Miss N’s arrest at home in Buckinghamshire.
Our client was met at Milton Keynes Police Station by a police station representative that recommended that she make a “No Comment” interview.
The police alleged that our client received large sums of money – amounting to £2.8 million. The police then allege that she deposited and transferred that money into various other bank accounts.
The police claimed that only £300,000 of the £2.8 Million can be proven to have been accrued through legitimate means as our client was in receipt of benefits.
A further search was conducted of Miss N’s home where £150k worth of designer goods such as clothing, shoes and valuable jewellery were also seized.
Our client was subject to a Restraint Order.
The court ordered Miss N to declare to the prosecution all of her expenditures that were not paid for with state benefits. In addition, she was also ordered to restrict her access to her bank accounts.
Our client denied the allegations against her.
Our client instructed us that her estranged husband was in charge of all finances in their home, including the money that passed into and out of her accounts. She had no knowledge of any fraudulent or money laundering activity that was supposedly happening with the money in her account as alleged by the police.
Our dedicated team of criminal defence solicitors diligently chased the officers in charge of the investigation into our client for updates and developments.
Our team did this in order to determine if the police and prosecution had gathered any evidence against our client.
For more information on the police investigation procedure, read our guide.
After an investigation that lasted almost two years and produced no evidence to suggest our client was responsible for any of the alleged fraudulent and money laundering activity, our client’s case was discontinued. The police made a decision of “No Further Action” against our client.
Have you been charged with a fraud or money laundering offence and need the support of a criminal defence solicitor? Contact us now to get in contact with our Top 1% team of criminal defence solicitors. We are available to help you 24/7, just click that button on this page.