On 5 October 2020, at Southwark Crown Court, His Honour Judge Hehir made a confiscation order against Mr Richard Baldwin in the sum of £1,633,766. He was ordered to pay the order within 3 months or he will face a further 8 years in prison.
The confiscation order was made in Mr Baldwin’s absence after he absconded from justice during his trial and conviction for money laundering in 2017. He was previously sentenced to a total of 5 years and 8 months’ imprisonment for the offence as well as separate contempts of court which he admitted in 2015.
The confiscation order reflects his benefit from laundering the proceeds of a conspiracy to insider deal between October 2007 and November 2008 which also involved his co-defendants Martyn Dodgson and Andrew Hind. Mr Baldwin used off-shore companies, bank accounts and false invoices and during the earlier sentencing hearing HHJ Hehir remarked that Mr Baldwin had been convicted on ‘compelling evidence’ of ‘extremely sophisticated’ money laundering.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Baldwin to be brought before the Court.
Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, said,
‘Money-launderers compound the harm caused by crime by helping to cover up the offence and the proceeds from it. Mr Baldwin remains a fugitive. However, this will not prevent us from pursuing a confiscation order to recover the benefit a person has obtained from their criminality.’
Mr Baldwin remains at large. If you have information about his whereabouts please report it to your local police or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
The Operation Tabernula investigation
Operation Tabernula is one of the FCA’s largest and most complex insider dealing investigations. The offending in this case was highly sophisticated and took place over several years. The investigation was demanding and time-consuming. Investigators, forensic accountants, lawyers, markets experts, intelligence analysts and digital forensic specialists pooled their skills to unravel the conspiracy and subsequent laundering by Baldwin. This was achieved through painstaking analysis of trading, financial and communications data, documentary evidence from the investment banks, and the material seized during searches under warrant. Surveillance was also deployed.
