A CRIMINAL who was caught attaching skimming devices to cash machines in Barrow was part of a major money laundering network involving millions of pounds in stolen cash.

Romanian national Ryingota Gincota is one of five men who have admitted being part of a network responsible for laundering at least £16m stolen by international cyber criminals.

Iurie Mereacre, a 37-year-old Moldovan national, ran the money laundering service from his home in Woodford Green, London, along with his brothers Iurie Bivol, 36, and Serghei Bivol 31, and 28-year-old Gincota.

Over a three-year period, the group set up and controlled around 400 bank accounts in a conspiracy which involved receiving stolen funds into one account, then dispersing it in smaller amounts to a number of other accounts.

This process would be repeated several times to disguise the source of the money before it was transferred back to cyber criminals in Eastern Europe.

In July 2015, Gincota, then using the name Roman Gingota, was spotted behaving suspiciously with another man at the cash machine outside the Cumberland Building Society in Dalton Road.

CCTV footage showed him placing an object over the cash dispenser part of the ATM while the other man acted as a look-out. Gincota then removed the device after it had been used by unsuspecting customers.

Gincota initially denied committing any offence and said he would take the blame if the police could prove it.

When he was shown CCTV footage, he owned up and said he had bought the device for £200 but refused to name his accomplice.

A three-year investigation by the National Crime Agency revealed that Nilesh Sheth, 53, a personal banking manager at Barclays, was instrumental in the opening of a large number of bank accounts, using false ID and address documents.

Prior to their arrests on November 3 of last year, the group was under surveillance by the NCA and was seen meeting with Sheth on numerous occasions at the bank, and in public places including restaurants and car parks.

On the day of the arrests, NCA officers recovered multiple mobile phones, financial ledgers, and 70 "mule" packs from Mereacre’s flat. The mule packs contained ID and banking documents, bank cards and security information that enabled the group to access the accounts.

Officers also seized a hand-written step-by-step guide to money laundering, which contained instructions on how to move money to accounts at various banks and notes on which accounts had been blocked by bank security.

In a search of Sheth’s house in Redwoods Close, Buckhurst Hill, officers recovered over £16,000 in cash and nine mobile phones hidden in various places around the house, including under the kitchen sink and tucked behind the sofa cushions.

A number of the phones had been used to communicate with Mereacre and contained text messages sent between the pair, organising meetings and payment.

On June 15 of this year, Mereacre, Sheth and both Bivol brothers pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. Gincota opted to go to trial but later pleaded guilty to fraud offences on September 19. All five are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey in London next month.

Mike Hulett, head of operations at the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Criminals rely heavily on money launderers like Mereacre and his associates in order to access their profits.

“Sheth abused his position of trust at the bank to knowingly open sham accounts for the network, providing a vital service which enabled them to launder £16m worth of stolen cash.

“We have had tremendous support from colleagues across law enforcement and the banking industry to shut down this money laundering network, causing serious disruption to the organised cyber criminals who used their services.”

Rose-Marie Franton, from the CPS International Justice and Organised Crime Division, said: “These men deliberately and persistently set about transferring millions of pounds of stolen money out of the UK to eastern Europe.

“Working closely with NCA investigators, the CPS presented a strong case with the result that today all the defendants have admitted their guilt.

“The evidence we gathered showed how Nilesh Sheth abused his position as a bank employee for personal gain by facilitating the laundering the criminal proceeds of an organised crime group both within the UK and across borders.”