A gang of fraudsters have admitted helping launder at least £16 million in cash stolen by international cyber criminals.

Iurie Mereacre, a 37-year-old Moldovan national, ran the money laundering service from his home in The Broadway, Woodford Green.

Mereacre also enlisted the help of his associates in the plot, Iurie Bivol, 36, also of The Broadway, as well as his brother, Serghei Bivol, 31, and Ryingota Gincota, 28, both of Broomhill Road, Woodford Green.

Over a three year period, the group set up and controlled around 400 bank accounts, depositing stolen funds into one account before spreading it out in smaller amounts to others.

This process would be repeated several times to disguise the source of the money before it was transferred back to cyber criminals in Eastern Europe.

The final member of the group, Nilesh Sheth, 53, of Redwoods Close, Buckhurst Hill, used his position as a personal banking manager at Barclays to open a large number of the fake accounts.

However, the group were attracted the attention of the National Crime Agency (NCA) and were seen meeting with Sheth on numerous occasions while under surveillance.

The five were arrested on November 3 last year, when NCA officers recovered multiple mobile phones, financial ledgers, and 70 “mule” packs from Mereacre’s flat.

The packs contained banking documents, bank cards and security information and fake IDs that enabled the group to access the accounts.

Officers also seized a hand-written step-by-step guide on money laundering, which contained instructions on how to move money to accounts at various banks.

In a search of Sheth’s home, officers recovered over £16,000 in cash and nine mobile phones hidden in various places around the property.

A number of the phones had been used to communicate with Mereacre and contained text messages sent between the pair, organising meetings and payment.

On June 15 this year, Mereacre, Sheth and both Bivol brothers pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to their roles in the conspiracy. Gincota later admitted fraud offences on September 19.

Mike Hulett, head of Operations at the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Criminals rely heavily on money launderers like Mereacre and his associates in order to access their profits.

“Sheth abused his position of trust at the bank to knowingly open sham accounts for the network, providing a vital service which enabled them to launder £16 million worth of stolen cash.

“We have had tremendous support from colleagues across law enforcement and the banking industry to shut down this money laundering network, causing serious disruption to the organised cyber criminals who used their services.”