Four men were sentenced at Laganside Crown Court today, Friday 11th April, for their part in a large-scale banking fraud.

John Cartmill (43) from west Belfast, pleaded guilty to 44 fraud and money-laundering offences at an earlier hearing. He was sentenced to four years, two years to be served in custody and two on licence.

His accomplices, Sean McMahon (42) and Barry McLaughlin (47) - both also from the west Belfast area - and Paul Diamond, aged 63, and from Dunmurry, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender at an earlier hearing. They were sentenced to 100 hours’ community service respectively. 

The investigation into their crimes was led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Economic Crime Unit.

Detective Chief Inspector Uel Boyd said: "Between 2017 and 2020, Cartmill contacted a number of account holders, many of them older people, by phone. He purported to be a representative from their bank and tricked them into handing over sensitive information. 

"He was then able to contact banking institutions with the information the victims had unwittingly provided and claim to be their customer, logging into online banking and quickly moving the funds within the accounts to other accounts throughout the world. 

"The total amount lost to the banking industry is £1.3 million."

Detective Chief Inspector Boyd continued: “Today’s sentencing is the result of an extremely complex investigation conducted by detectives and financial investigators, with support from law enforcement partners in multiple jurisdictions.

“Fraud is a crime which has a huge emotional impact on its victims. Cartmill targeted the life-savings of innocent people, and acted with no thought for the long-lasting trauma he caused through his deception. His only concern was to line his own pockets. 

"Today's sentence should send a clear message to those involved in scamming hard-working people that they will be vigorously pursued and brought before the courts to face the consequences of their actions."

Detective Chief Inspector Boyd advised: “The lengths that criminals will go to in order to get their hands on your money are extensive, and we would ask everyone to take a minute to question that email, call or text message that seems to be from your bank before acting."

“Don’t respond to unknown calls and texts; don’t give away personal or financial information to people you don’t know; don’t transfer money to unknown people and never click on links in text messages.

“We would encourage the public to have conversations with friends and family who may be vulnerable, to raise awareness on what to do if they receive such a suspicious call or message. 

“The best way to fight back against fraud and not lose money is to stop, check and report.”