A MAN from west Belfast has been jailed for his part in a large-scale banking fraud totalling more than £1m.
At Belfast Crown Court on Friday, 43-year-old John Cartmill was sentenced to four years having pleaded guilty to 44 fraud and money-laundering offences at an earlier hearing.
He will serve two years in custody and two on licence.
"The custodial sentence sends a clear message that financial crimes will not go unpunished," said Roger Davison of the Public Prosecution Service.
"John Cartmill preyed on innocent victims, causing significant financial and emotional harm."
Older victims
Cartmill was the organiser of the complex fraud operation, which targeted victims online between January 2017 and March 2020.
His offences included three counts of conspiracy to defraud, 15 counts of fraud by false representation, three counts of entering into an arrangement to acquire criminal property, 22 counts of possessing articles in connection with fraud and a single count of possessing criminal property.
"Between 2017 and 2020, Cartmill contacted a number of account holders, many of them older people, by phone," said Detective Chief Inspector Uel Boyd.
"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 £1.3m."
Cartmill's three accomplices were also sentenced for their part in the fraud.
Sean McMahon, 42, and Barry McLaughlin, 47, both from the west Belfast area, as well as 63-year-old Paul Diamond from Dunmurry pleaded guilty to assisting an offender at an earlier hearing.
They were each sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
'Long-lasting trauma'
"Fraud is a crime which has a huge emotional impact on its victims," said DCI Boyd.
"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."
Meanwhile, Mr Davison of the PPS added: "John Cartmill has an extensive criminal record and prosecutors in the PPS Fraud and Departmental section worked closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland who carried out a thorough investigation into one of the most complex fraud cases we have seen.
"We worked with police to bring Cartmill and his co-accused before the court and build a strong case against them, which resulted in their guilty pleas."
