A brothel "client" helped launder thousands of pounds of dirty money to China.
David Marsh handled nearly £20,000 of ill-gotten cash via bank transfers and collecting takings from the brothel. But the pensioner walked free from Liverpool Crown Court this morning.
Simon Parry, prosecuting, told the court today, Thursday, that the 72-year-old handled the proceeds of a "prostitution business" run by Guoyan Ma from a block of flats in Warrington town centre. Marsh was described as her "friend and client", and made a string of bank transfers totalling £10,000 to China under her instruction.
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He also collected takings from the brothel at Pyramid Court while she was away in China for a month in the autumn of 2019. The racket netted an estimated £2,000 per week, with the total amount laundered by the defendant therefore put at around £18,000.
Marsh, who was defended by Rhys Rosser, has no previous convictions. Mr Parry said: "The prosecution does accept that Mr Marsh was taken advantage of in this case by Mrs Ma and his involvement was limited to that period of a month by collecting takings and the handful of electronic transfers to China."
He was found guilty of two counts of money laundering by a jury after a trial earlier this year. Marsh, of Springclough Avenue in Salford, was handed a six-month community order with a three-month electronically monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am.
Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: "I know you were doing it as a favour for a friend, and I accept that you were acting under her influence. I understand that you weren't doing it for any personal gain, and I am entirely satisfied that she was taking advantage of you.
"But the jury were satisfied that you knew what you were doing and that it was a crime. I am very conscious of your age, your good character and your ill health."
The court previously heard that Ma, of Clarence Street in Padgate, sometimes took more than £2,500 per week from the business. The 58-year-old hosted and set payment rates for workers as well as advertising their services, with some of the sex workers later found to be in the UK illegally.
Evidence gathered by police suggested that the ring was in operation between July 2016 and October 2019. Her sentencing in July had to be stopped briefly after she had what was believed to be a panic attack in the dock shortly.
Ma was convicted by a jury of five counts of controlling prostitution for gain, relating to five women in their 30s and 40s, as well as two counts of money laundering. She was handed an 18-month imprisonment suspended for two years and told to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.
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