A mother and son team have been locked away after laundering hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Sandy Kaur, 47, along with son Aaron Sanghera, 27, (below) allowed her company AV Traders to be used to funnel part of stolen proceeds offshore though a network of bank accounts.

The fraud began in August 2013 when an imposter walked into a branch of Lloyds Bank in King’s Cross in central London and asked to make a transfer of £420,000.

More than £390,000 of stolen funds was subsequently transferred to the AV Traders business account, owned by Aaron Sanghera, after being sent through several other accounts to try and disguise the criminal origin of the money.

As well as being used to launder money, the company account was also used for legitimate trading, making it even harder to spot the fraud.

Following a successful operation by the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit Kaur and Sanghera, both of Lyndhurst Rise, Chigwell, were sentenced on Friday December 21 at the Old Bailey to 4 years and 2 years 9 months in prison respectively, after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

Their case formed part of a series of investigations since 2012 that have identified three criminal gangs throughout the UK involved in fraud, money laundering and tax evasion offences.

All the gangs were linked through the money-laundering activities of Eddie Lakes, 42, of Brentford, Middlesex, who was successfully prosecuted three times and received a total of nine years imprisonment.

Glyn Whittick, temporary detective chief Inspector of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, said: “This was a highly organised gang that used corrupt bank staff to target customers and then launder the stolen frauds through business accounts.

“Today’s sentencing shows that both the criminal gangs directly responsible for fraud and those who assist them will be tracked down and punished.

“In particular, this sends a strong message that setting up an account and allowing it to be used by fraudsters is a serious crime that can result in a lengthy prison sentence.”

In total 14 defendants have been successfully prosecuted since the investigation was launched, receiving combined prison sentences of more than 70 years.

The fraud was spotted by Lloyds Bank who referred the case to the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit.

All victims were refunded.