King v Qing Wen Lin, Long Quang Lin Lin Zheng, Zhu Lin & Yang Wu Chen
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McCloskey LJ |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] NICA 11 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 24 February 2023 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2023] NICA 11
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McC12064
ICOS Nos: 22/9582/A01,
A02, A03, A04,
A05
Delivered: 09/02/2023
IN HIS MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
ON APPEAL FROM THE CROWN COURT AT BELFAST
___________
BETWEEN:
THE KING
v
QING WEN LIN, LONG QUANG YU, LIN LIN ZHENG,
ZHU LIN & YANG WU CHEN
___________
Mr Stuart McTaggart (instructed by RP Crawford & Co Solicitors) for Qing Wen Lin
Ms Aileen Smyth ( instructed by RP Crawford & Co Solicitors) for Long Quang Yu
Mr Declan Quinn, (instructed by RP Crawford & Co Solicitors) for Lin Lin Zheng
Mr Michael Boyd (instructed by RP Crawford & Co Solicitors) for Zhu Lin
Mr Ian Turkington (instructed by McCrudden Trainor Solicitors) Yang Wu Chen
Mr Robin Steer (instructed by the Public Prosecution Service) for the Respondent
___________
Before: McCloskey LJ, Humphreys J and Kinney J
___________
INDEX
Subject Paragraph No
Introduction 1-3
A Brief Chronology 4
The Prosecution Case 5-9
The Structure of this Judgment 10
The New Material Applications 11-14
The Offender Hierarchy 15-19
QWL 20-48
LQY 49-55
LLZ 56-72
ZL 73-80
2
YWC 81-86
The Framework of Sentencing Principle 87-111
Our Conclusions 112-127
Sentencing Outcomes 128
Epilogue 129=130
___________
McCLOSKEY LJ (delivering the judgment of the court)
Nomenclature
In view of the large number of appellants and the nature of their names it will be
convenient to identify them in this judgment, following the order in which they are
listed in the title, as QWL, LQY, LLZ, ZL and YWC respectively. No discourtesy is
intended by this purely mechanical device.
Introduction
[1] Leave to appeal having been refused by the single judge, these five appellants
renew their applications before the plenary court. By their applications they seek to
challenge the sentences imposed upon them at Belfast Crown Court in respect of a
series of offences involving criminal property, in vernacular terms a money
laundering operation, contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
[2] The sentences which the appellants seek to challenge are the following:
(a) QWL: a determinate sentence of 24 months imprisonment.
(b) LQY: a determinate sentence of 20 months imprisonment.
(c) LLZ: a determinate sentence of 16 months imprisonment.
(d) ZL: a determinate sentence of 32 months imprisonment.
(e) YWC: a total determinate sentence of 28 months imprisonment comprising
24
months on count 24, and a consecutive sentence of 4 months on count 26.
In each case the determinate sentence was divided equally between an immediate
custodial period and subsequent licensed release.
[3] Each of the appellants pleaded guilty. On the bill of indictment there were 12
accused persons altogether. Only these five appellants seek to challenge their
sentences. The other seven accused persons were punished by sentences of
imprisonment ranging from 12 to 36 months. The sentences of imprisonment
imposed on four of the 12 accused were suspended for two years.
3
A brief chronology
[4] An unlawful money laundering operation founding all of the prosecutions
unfolded largely between January and July 2019. All of the accused persons were
arrested on 1 July 2019. Following charging and initial remand in custody they were
granted bail at various stages of the ensuing four week period. They were
committed for trial on 12 October 2021. “No bill” applications were made on
24 November 2021. The focus of these applications was the original first count,
which alleged a conspiracy to convert criminal property. In response, the
prosecution communicated its intention to present an amended indictment, omitting
this count. Next, on 1 February 2022, the new indictment having been presented, all
of the appellants pleaded not guilty. On 1 April 2022 they were rearraigned,
entering new pleas of guilty. These appellants, together with five of the other
accused, were sentenced on 18 July 2022. The remaining two accused were
sentenced on 8 December 2022.
The prosecution case
[5] An investigation conducted jointly by the National Crime Agency (“NCA”)
and certain financial institutions revealed that significant quantities of cash were
being laundered in Northern Ireland through bank accounts linked to Chinese
nationals. Altogether 27 bank accounts were being used to receive cash deposits
made through the Automated Service Devices (“ASD”) machines. These deposits
were then transferred to other bank accounts throughout the UK. These criminal
activities unfolded between 31 January 2018 and 1 July 2019.
[6] The offending deposits were made at a single bank in central Belfast. The
modus operandi involved two separate types of conduct which were labelled
“primary liability” and “secondary liability” respectively. The “primary liability”
element entailed the making of cash lodgements in the ASD machines. During the
period of offending between 40 and 60 deposits of significant amounts of cash were
made daily. The sums ranged from £1,000 to £4,000. CCTV and other evidence
established that the accused persons normally made these deposits alone, but were
sometimes in each other’s company. Any one individual could lodge up to £40,000
cash daily without triggering an anti-money laundering alert by the bank.
[7] The “secondary liability” element of the offending entailed allowing one’s
bank account to be used for the purpose of receiving deposits or making money
transfers. Three of the five appellants – QWL, LLZ and ZL engaged in this specific
conduct. The sums of money to which both types of offending applied totalled just
under £6 million. We shall consider infra the contextual setting to which this figure
belongs.
[8] The money laundering operation was sophisticated and UK wide. The
prosecution case was that all of the accused persons were “operating in broad terms
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