Joe Calzaghe’s model ex-girlfriend facing jail for role in £104,000,000 smuggling ring
Former boxer Joe Calzaghe’s glamour model ex-girlfriend is facing jail for helping smuggle suitcases full of cash from the UK to Dubai as part of a £104m smuggling ring.
Jo-Emma Larvin, 44, who dated the Welsh boxer for six years, stashed £5 million in her suitcase during two trips to Dubai.
The first trip saw the model transport £2.2million spread between seven suitcases while travelling with Amy Harrison, 27.
Her current partner Jonathan Johnson, 55, also flew from Heathrow with £2.8million crammed in eight suitcases in September 2020, using holiday items to disguise the cash.
The cash smugglers flew business class so they could take more luggage with them and check in late, which reduced the chances of their suitcases getting searched.
Mr Calzaghe was not involved in the smuggling network.
Larvin’s six year relationship with the Welsh boxing legend ended in 2009.
She now describes herself as a safari specialist, wildlife photographer, travel consultant, social media digital marketing specialist and interior designer.
Larvin denied any wrongdoing and claimed she believed she was flying out millions of pounds for the UAE Embassy.
They declared cash once arriving in Dubai, handing over a letter authorising them to carry it from a company called Omnivest.
The model said when she and her partner took the job it was the ‘worst decision’ of their lives.
Julian Christopher, KC, prosecuting, told jurors the defendants ‘played a significant part in the transportation of very large amounts of cash’ to Dubai from Heathrow.
Millions of pounds in English and Scottish banknotes were carried in suitcases checked in as luggage, a court heard.
Anything over 10,000 Euros leaving the EU has to be declared to HMRC, but the smugglers’ suitcases usually contained up to £500,000.
They were reportedly paid £3,000 and treated to an all-expenses paid trip to the UAE for their troubles.
During her first trip Larvin sent messages to Johnson, saying she was ‘in at the deep end’.
Johnson also messaged Larvin two days before his first trip to Dubai, and said taking eight suitcases with them was ‘taking the p**s’.
They were recruited into the racket by ‘kingpin’ Michelle Clarke, a mum-of-two from Leeds who is still on the run from the National Crime Agency in Dubai.
After making contact with the couple, Clarke added them to a WhatsApp group named ‘Sunshine and Lollipops’ which she used to organise her mules.
Clarke urged couriers to use only mobile pay-as-you-go sims and said: ‘Only use these phones for now on and delete everything from your personal phones’.
Money laundering expert and technical adviser from HM Treasury, Lesley Hayton said coffee and air freshener had been secreted in the suitcases to put sniffer dogs off the scent of cash.
‘There is a belief that when moving large sums of cash…there is a belief that coffee will put a sniffer dog away from finding the cash,’ she said.
‘I believe they were travelling with Emirates Airlines, business class has the luxury of a later check in, so that makes the chances of getting caught that much smaller than if you were waiting in an airport for two to three hours.
‘There is also a higher baggage allowance on business class.’
Johnson is said to have told Ms Larvin that their contacts were ‘taking the p‘, adding: ‘How the f do two people carry eight cases it’s f*g ridiculous, talk about conspicuous.’
The couple were arrested in March last year.
They denied the charges but were unanimously convicted of removing criminal property from the UK, and have been released on bail ahead of sentencing.
Adrian Searle, director of the National Economic Crime Centre in the NCA, said on Wednesday: ‘The laundering of such vast quantities of cash around the globe enables organised criminals and corrupt elites to clean or hide their ill-gotten gains.
‘Cash smugglers typically work on behalf of International Controller Networks, who move the finances of the international drug trade, people traffickers, fraudsters and other criminal groups, making the source of the money difficult to trace.
‘The criminality this enables costs the UK billions every year, causes misery and ruins lives across the world.
‘This case demonstrates the continued commitment by the NCA to crackdown on money laundering and close the vulnerabilities being exploited.’
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