Swansea money launderer sent to prison

Two people from Swansea have been sentenced after pleading guilty to laundering £250,000.

Robert Norris, 44, from Plasmarl and Natalie McBride, 35, from Portmead both appeared before Swansea Crown Court on Friday (20 December).

Norris has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, while McBride has received a 12-month community order.

In May 2020 a robbery took place at the traffic lights at the junction of Carmarthen Road and Dyfatty Street. A large amount of cash believed to have been around £88,000 was stolen following a drug drop off in the Townhill area of Swansea.

In June 2020 Jonathan Norris, 42, the defendant’s brother, was charged with the robbery and pleaded guilty at trial in April the following year and was sent to prison for nine years.

Cash deposits

Following the robbery a series of cash deposits were made into the bank account of Robert Norris. These took place between June and August 2020, and totalled £66,740

An investigation into the financial position of Robert Norris identified credit in his account of £70,413.02,

He was arrested in March concerning possible involvement in the robbery and the unexplained cash paid into his bank account.

Norris’ bank account from March 2015 to March 2021 revealed £250,927.40 of unexplained cash deposits.

Many of those were made on the same day at various locations throughout Swansea.

Between 2015 and 2020 Norris did not notify the Inland Revenue of any employment either in self-assessment tax returns or PAYE.

In the year between December 2019 and December 2020 Norris also passed large amounts of money through the bank account of his then partner, Natalie McBride which amounted to £23,970.00.

During the same period McBride transferred £19,671.00 back to Norris’ account.

The total amount of cash linked to the investigation was £312,003.40.

Strength of evidence 

Detective Inspector Richard George from South Wales Police, said: “Such was the strength of evidence against Norris and McBride that they had little option other than to plead guilty to their crimes.

“This represents a successful conclusion to a long and protracted investigation which was conducted diligently between our Organised Crime teams, Economic Cyber Crime team, Dedicated Financial Manager and Analyst team, which has targeted those who profit from criminality.

“I hope that sends a strong message to those who think they are above the law, and who see associated criminality as a way to make quick and substantial amounts of money.

“It is only a matter of time until criminals such as these are caught and we will work tirelessly, alongside our partners, to ensure that they are brought to justice.”