St Albans Crown Court Sentencing Results

Claudiu Marcu, 51, from London, conducted a string of distraction thefts in supermarkets across Surrey and other areas between November 2024 and February 2025. He targeted elderly people, stealing wallets, purses, and bags while distracting them, and used the stolen bank cards to withdraw thousands of pounds, totaling over £40,000.

Ded Makaj, 34, from Haringey Park in north London, was one of two men arrested after police discovered a cannabis factory estimated to be worth more than £500,000 at a house in Mimram Road, Hertford, on Wednesday April 9, 2025. The building had been converted into a cannabis factory with dangerously tampered power supply. The men tried to escape through the roof but were arrested shortly after.

Bylbyl Nezaj, 36, of The Meadows, Thorley Park, Bishop’s Stortford, was one of two men arrested after police discovered a cannabis factory estimated to be worth more than £500,000 at a house in Mimram Road, Hertford, on Wednesday April 9, 2025. The building had been converted into a cannabis factory with dangerously tampered power supply. The men tried to escape through the roof but were arrested shortly after.

Ricky Harrison obtained four Bounce Back Loans worth £50,000 each by inflating company turnover figures, claiming a total of £200,000 during the pandemic. He used fake businesses that were not trading, spent £85,000 on a car in June 2020, and made only one loan repayment of £833 before attempting to close his companies.

Kamarley Jones-Ebanks, 23, ran a ruthless county lines crack cocaine ring in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The operation involved supplying crack cocaine and posed a serious threat to communities. In July 2025, Hertfordshire police’s County Lines Investigation Unit raided a drug hub in Hitchin linked to Jones-Ebanks and his crew, arresting him on the spot and halting his violent drug empire.

Irakli Rustemi, 33, an Albanian national from Hertfordshire, was stopped by armed Cambridgeshire Police officers in a white Citroen DS3 on the A10 at Buntingford. Intelligence indicated access to a firearm. A key seized from the vehicle led to a search of a chalet-style apartment in Penton Drive, Cheshunt in October 2023, where a 9mm Makarov self-loading pistol with six rounds of ammunition and 13 kilos of cocaine (street value £700,000) were found hidden in a wardrobe, wrapped in a towel.

Dominic D'Sa participated in a fraudulent wine investment scheme run by Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd, convincing 41 victims across the UK to invest £6m in worthless wine. The operation involved persistent cold calls to elderly and vulnerable people, misrepresentations about profits, and high mark-ups. Investors lost pensions, homes, and in one case, a marriage. The scheme operated from 2008 to 2018, with a raid revealing deceptive practices. D'Sa was convicted of fraudulent trading after a jury trial in August.

Gregory Assemakis was involved in the fraudulent trading activities of Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd, a scheme that defrauded 41 UK victims of £6m through fake wine investments. The company, founded in 2008, used call centre tactics to target pensioners, employing lies, repeated calls, and false reassurances. Wine was sold at unreasonable mark-ups, often worthless on the secondary market. A November 2018 raid exposed the operation's mantra 'no means yes'. Assemakis was found guilty by jury in August after trial.

Benjamin Cazaly founded Imperial Wine & Spirits Merchant Ltd in 2008, operating a fraudulent wine investment scheme from a call centre in Groveland Court, London. The company targeted vulnerable pensioners with cold calls, using scripts, fake names, and glossy brochures with unauthorized logos. Victims were misled about wine values with mark-ups up to 400%, losing at least £6m from 41 investors. A raid in November 2018 uncovered the mantra 'no means yes' on the wall. Over £37m passed through accounts in 10 years. Cazaly was convicted of fraudulent trading after a trial in August.

Ahsan Naseer, along with accomplices, orchestrated a cold calling campaign pretending to be detectives investigating fraudulent bank activity. Between April and July, they targeted elderly and vulnerable victims in Essex, Hertfordshire, and Kent, coercing them into withdrawing cash, purchasing foreign currency or high-value jewellery, and handing it over as part of a fake undercover operation. This resulted in around £51,000 taken from seven victims, with attempts for a further £30,000.

Hamza Ali, along with accomplices, orchestrated a cold calling campaign pretending to be detectives investigating fraudulent bank activity. Between April and July, they targeted elderly and vulnerable victims in Essex, Hertfordshire, and Kent, coercing them into withdrawing cash, purchasing foreign currency or high-value jewellery, and handing it over as part of a fake undercover operation. This resulted in around £51,000 taken from seven victims, with attempts for a further £30,000.

Ismail Sarwar, along with accomplices, orchestrated a cold calling campaign pretending to be detectives investigating fraudulent bank activity. Between April and July, they targeted elderly and vulnerable victims in Essex, Hertfordshire, and Kent, coercing them into withdrawing cash, purchasing foreign currency or high-value jewellery, and handing it over as part of a fake undercover operation. This resulted in around £51,000 taken from seven victims, with attempts for a further £30,000.

Hamza Aftab, 25, of Fountains Road, Luton, was part of a gang supplying crack cocaine and heroin from Luton into the Welwyn Hatfield area. He took control of a drug line following the jailing of other members, using a dedicated phone to receive orders and direct associates to exchange drugs for cash. During an operation in 2022, mobile handsets, bladed weapons, class A drugs, and £7,700 in cash were seized.

Adeeb Mohammed, 34, of St Winifred’s Avenue, Luton, was involved in a gang supplying crack cocaine and heroin from Luton into the Welwyn Hatfield area. The gang's activities included storing and distributing drugs, with arrests in 2022 leading to the seizure of mobile handsets, bladed weapons, class A drugs, and £7,700 in cash.

Mohammed Sohail Khan, 22, of Hallwicks Road, Luton, was part of a gang supplying crack cocaine and heroin from Luton into the Welwyn Hatfield area. He stored drugs, cash, and weapons on behalf of the group and was involved in drug exchanges. During an operation in 2022, mobile handsets, bladed weapons, class A drugs, and £7,700 in cash were seized from his address.

Muhammed Tawhid, 22, of Morgan Close, Luton, was part of a gang supplying crack cocaine and heroin from Luton into the Welwyn Hatfield area. He was involved in drug deliveries as directed by a gang leader, with the operation leading to the seizure of mobile handsets, bladed weapons, class A drugs, and £7,700 in cash during arrests in 2022.

Casey Porter, a 25-year-old care worker from Barleycroft, Stevenage, exploited his position while working for a care agency to scam a vulnerable victim with learning difficulties. He withdrew cash from ATMs in Baldock without the victim's consent on 40 separate occasions between April and September 2024, stealing more than £10,000 for his own gain.

Neelen Balarajah, 34, was part of a London organised crime group that laundered millions in drugs cash using scrap metal dealers. In January 2022, he was caught by National Crime Agency surveillance taking possession of a Gucci embossed box containing over £20,000 from associate Hitesh Vadolia. He also distributed cannabis and attempted to fraudulently acquire £1.5 million in government grants. During arrest, he tried to escape by driving at officers. A search of his home on Grove Road, Pinner, Middlesex, revealed substantial cash, herbal cannabis, cocaine, and empty wrappings testing positive for cocaine traces, with phone images showing they had contained kilo blocks of cocaine. The group also used cash to pay for stolen metal and sought grants to divert funds to criminal ventures.

Ryan Lee, 24, of Wildwood Lane, Stevenage, was involved in a county lines drug dealing operation supplying class A drugs like cocaine and class B drugs like cannabis. He was arrested following an investigation by Herts police's County Lines Investigation Unit, during which class A and class B drugs with a street value of more than £5,000, along with a large amount of cash, were seized.

Sedric Smith, 46, of Connaught Road in Harrow, London, operated a county line known as the 'Dee' or 'D' line in St Albans, selling heroin and cocaine over a four-month period from June to October 2024. He used the address of a vulnerable woman without her consent as a base for his drug dealing activities. During a police warrant in Dellfield in October 2023, he was found with 50 wraps of crack cocaine with a street value of about £1,000, along with cash, multiple phones, and scales. He attempted to flush the drugs down the toilet when officers arrived.

Frances Noble faked a neurological condition and falsely claimed to be bedbound, deceiving Hertfordshire County Council into providing her with payments for round-the-clock care between January 15, 2007, and November 26, 2018. She received a total of £702,905, which was intended for her care but was misused for personal purposes. She employed her daughter and son-in-law in the scheme and was placed under surveillance, where neighbours observed her walking and performing activities without assistance.

Flora Mendes, a struck-off solicitor, exploited the Grenfell Tower fire scheme by submitting fraudulent immigration applications for 14 immigrants, fabricating addresses in Grenfell Tower between October 2020 and March 2021 to claim eligibility under a Home Office concession for survivors. She charged victims an average of £2,800 each, netting approximately £39,000. Applications featured inconsistencies like non-existent flat numbers and common phrases. Additionally, between 2018 and 2023, she provided unqualified immigration services to five people, including via the Windrush scheme, duping them into paying large sums while submitting low-cost or fee-waived applications and pocketing the fees.

Jonathan Dunn, aged 50, from Clifton in Bedfordshire, was arrested after police raided a property in Baldock in November 2023. Officers seized 7.5kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of up to £905,000 and £120,000 in cash.

Lee Moran, 42, of Birch Court, Howlands, Welwyn Garden City, was arrested following a warrant on February 26, 2024. Around £750 in cash was seized, and he was linked to supplying drugs in the area.

Christopher Mancini advertised genuine Rolex watches on eBay between 2021 and 2023, but convinced victims to complete transactions outside the platform by trading cash with him in person. Mancini used fake ID, counterfeit paperwork and packaging to deceive his victims. One victim traded a genuine Rolex watch, valued at £12,000, as part of a purchase. The 39-year-old from Vesta Close, Milton Keynes, made more than £86,000 selling counterfeit Rolex watches.

Arjan Lisaj was involved in a drugs gang that dropped cocaine packages from a small aircraft flying from France. He worked at the car wash business used as a front and was arrested in September 2024 near the site. During the arrest, he threw a phone into a stream, and 2kg blocks of cocaine were found in the car wash office. The gang avoided radar systems and UK airspace documentation.

Martynas Piecia led a Hertfordshire drugs gang that used a small aircraft to drop cocaine packages from France into the UK. The gang operated on the Hertfordshire and Essex border, using a car wash business as a front. They liaised with contacts abroad for at least three flights from Cherbourg, avoiding radar systems. Piecia was arrested in September 2024 near the car wash site, and a video on his phone showed him examining a cocaine package matching those seized.

Yassar Aftab was involved in the ‘Max’ drug line, supplying heroin and crack cocaine in Hemel Hempstead between February 2022 and September 2023. He was arrested in September 2023 after a police investigation, with seizures of Class A drugs, cash, and handsets used in the drug network.

Tomas Bauza was involved in supplying controlled drugs as part of a Hertfordshire gang that used aircraft to drop cocaine from France. He was arrested at his home in September 2024, where 54kg of cocaine worth £4.2 million was found in his loft, along with evidence of a cannabis factory. Prior to the shipment, he travelled to Dorset to scout drop sites, and his fingerprints were on packaging from a cocaine parcel.

Temitayo Ogbaro was involved in running the ‘Max’ drug line, supplying heroin and crack cocaine in Hemel Hempstead between February 2022 and September 2023. Police conducted a long-running investigation, arresting him in September 2023 and seizing large amounts of Class A drugs, cash, and handsets used in the drug network.