Six UK immigration officers charged with money laundering offences

Six immigration officers have been charged with offences after an investigation into alleged thefts from migrants and money laundering.

Five of the officers are facing charges including conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday. All six have been charged with money laundering offences.

Besmir Matera, 36, Lee-Ann Evanson, 42, John Bernthal, 53, Ben Edwardes, 45, Jack Mitchell, 33, and David Grundy, 43, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 29 January.

Malcolm McHaffie, the head of the CPS special crime division, said the charges followed a Home Office investigation into alleged thefts from migrants and money laundering between August 2021 and November 2022.

“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings. We have worked closely with the Home Office’s anti-corruption criminal investigations unit as they carried out their investigation,” McHaffie said.

Matera, of Reigate, Surrey, is charged with conspiracy to steal; misconduct in public office; concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property; obtaining leave to enter to remain in the UK by deception; and three counts of possession of an identity document with improper intention.

Evanson, of Bracknell, Berkshire, Bernthal, of Welling, south-east London, Edwardes, of Bexleyheath, south-east London, and Mitchell, of Dover, Kent, are each charged with conspiracy to steal, misconduct in public office and concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property.

Grundy, of Croydon, south London, is charged with concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property.