A 64-year-old man has been found guilty of money laundering in relation to a fraud of more than £1.2m perpetrated by his wife against her employers.
Andrew Baker was convicted of two counts of money laundering offences today (August 9) after a five day trial at Southwark Crown Court. Baker’s wife, Anne, pleaded guilty to false accounting, admitting that she submitted £1.2m worth of false invoices to her employers, the Princess Grace Hospital in London, where she worked as a radiologist between November 1998 and January 2012.
Employed under her maiden name of Fitzpatrick, Anne Baker raised one false invoice per month over a period of 14 years, authorising payments to ‘Dr. Baker’, a fictional radiology consultant. The payments went directly into Anne Baker’s bank account.
Jaswant Narwal, Deputy Head of Fraud at the CPS, said:
“Over a period of 14 years, Andrew Baker and his wife Anne established a well-oiled system of defrauding money from a private hospital, and spending the proceeds financing their extravagant lifestyles.
“Anne Baker was bringing home more than four times her monthly salary in fraudulent income, and her husband was fully aware of the money’s source, positioning himself as the key beneficiary of the proceeds of the fraud.
“Their investments included renovation of a large Devon property which they then rented out as a wedding venue for significant profit, as well as a holiday villa in Turkey, and three luxury cars - two Jaguars and an Aston Martin.
“Today’s conviction demonstrates the commitment of the CPS to tackling all forms of economic crime. It’s not just those that design and carry out the fraud that will find themselves in court but also those who assist fraudsters by hiding money or who knowingly fund their lifestyle with the proceeds of crime."
