Fowler Oldfield and James Stunt trial jury consider verdicts

Eight individuals went on trial at Leeds Cloth Hall Court almost eight months ago - on April 13 - accused of washing criminal cash through Fowler Oldfield, off Hall Lane, Bradford, between 2014 and 2016.

Gregory Frankel, 44, whose address was given as Yates Flat in Bradford, Daniel Rawson, 45, of Syke Green in Leeds, Paul Miller, 45, of High Street in Wetherby, Heidi Buckler, 45, of Lawson Court in Leeds, James Stunt, 40, of Ennismore Garden Mews in London, Francesca Sota, 34, of Stephendale Road in Fulham, Alexander Tulloch, 41, of Delia Street in London, and Haroon Rashid, 51, of no fixed abode, are all charged with transferring criminal property, namely cash.

This was across a period of just over two years, between January 1, 2014 and September 30, 2016.

Stunt and Sota are also charged with making a false instrument with intent that it be accepted as genuine, in other words, forgery.

This was said to have been on or around February 11, 2015.

All eight have pleaded not guilty to all charges put to them.

Prosecutor Nicholas Clarke QC said Frankel, Rawson, Miller, Buckley and Rashid - known universally as 'Harry' - were "from, or particularly connected with, Fowler Oldfield".

He added that Stunt, Tulloch and Sota were in business in the London area principally.

The prosecution say “criminal cash” was brought from all over the country to Fowler Oldfield’s premises before the scheme “went national” and Stunt’s offices in London also started receiving money.

Police pictured at the Fowler Oldfield jewellers after it was raided in 2016 (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

The court heard how Fowler Oldfield went from modest takings from scrap gold to processing daily payments that were akin to coming “from a Premier League football stadium on a match day.”

It is claimed the defendants hid the origin of the money by moving it through a company bank account and using the proceeds to buy gold.

Opening the case to jurors at Leeds Cloth Hall Court in April, prosecutor Nicholas Clarke QC said it was “blindingly obvious this was criminal cash”.

The court was told the money was carried in sports bags, carrier bags and holdalls in hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time – and all paid into Fowler Oldfield’s bank account.

The jury saw CCTV evidence from the premises of large wads of cash arriving in toy gun boxes and takeaway bags, as well as a “careful courier”.

He brought in £200,000 and looked to be wiping down the bundles he brought into Fowler Oldfield and seems to use a tissue after visiting the bathroom to open doors.

Mr Clarke finished the prosecution's case on July 19, with Frankel - the director of Fowler Oldfield - taking to the witness box to begin his evidence.

He believed he was operating a legitimate business, the court was told.

The prosecution had put the case in its opening statement that CCTV shows Frankel carrying a rucksack of £36,455 in cash into the jeweller’s premises through a private door on August 19, 2016.

Fowler Oldfield was raided by police on September 8, 2016.

Frankel was in Israel at the time, where he has lived and worked as a security coordinator in a position funded by the Israelian Ministry of Defence for a number of years.

His wife and children still reside there and currently he said he is having to live with his mum and dad during the trial.

When asked how important trust is in the business, Frankel said: “Extremely, 100 per cent, we trusted out customers.”

He believed Pure Nines - a new company Fowler Oldfield did business with and which also had its premises raided - was legitimate but has a very different view now.

Frankel said: “I think they’ve used me, I think they’ve destroyed my business and my life.”

Socialite James Stunt outside Leeds Cloth Hall Court during a break for lunch, where he is one of eight defendants on trial over an alleged multimillion-pound money-laundering operation (Image: PA/Danny Lawson)

Stunt, giving evidence, told the jury his business – Stunt & Co – was a “legitimate gold bullion dealer” and the plan was to source raw gold and turn it into high-quality gold bars.

Jurors heard he started a “joint venture” with Frankel in August 2015 and the defendant denied there was anything illegal about the partnership.

He said: “To be as ostentatious, as I was, that’s like walking around with a sign saying ‘arrest me’.”

Prosecutors said Stunt may have got involved in the alleged network because the breakdown of his marriage to the daughter of F1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone meant the “river of money” from her family was “running dry”.

But Stunt told the court he was “not a kept man” during his relationship.

He told jurors Ms Ecclestone’s family were “very controlling of our marriage”.

Socialite James Stunt and Helena Robinson outside Leeds Cloth Hall Court during a break for lunch at the court where he is one of eight defendants on trial over an alleged multimillion-pound money-laundering operation (Image: PA/Danny Lawson)

Asked by his barrister Richard Fisher KC if he had ever sought attention, Stunt said: “I’m not a Kardashian, I’ve never done anything to achieve fame.

“Wow, I have some money, I married a famous man’s daughter.

“That wasn’t what I wanted. I loved my wife – I didn’t love her bank account.”

Judge Andrew Stubbs KC sent the jury of seven men and four women out to consider its verdicts on Tuesday afternoon.