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Lotto Winner Assets Frozen as Police Investigate Husbands Money Laundering

In 2008, Amanda Nuttall (then 34-years old), won the UK National Lottery and scooped the sum of £2.5m. Soon after claiming her winnings, the lotto winner splashed out on a private jet, luxury holidays in Dubai and Cannes and went on numerous Harrods spending sprees. Fast forward to 2019 and now her assets have been seized by the police, as part of an international money-laundering probe.

After matching all her numbers, she and her businessman husband Jonathan, made a few changes to their luxury country home; the first being the installation of a swimming pool. Whilst living the high-life, the pair then rented a £2,000 a week flat in London! You’d be forgiven for thinking the money would be dwindling fast at this rate! But the endless sprees and never-ending money drew the attention of many crime-fighting agencies, which led to the UK police claiming that Jonathan made his fortune through money-laundering, while putting his wealth in his wife’s name. It’s not hard to come to that conclusion is it because when you do the math; the numerous spending sprees in one of the world’s most expensive department stores, the purchase of a private jet and swimming pool, plus when you throw in all the luxury holidays and the flat in the most expensive place to live in Britain – you’d have expected the money to run out pretty quick!

In a civil action, the National Crime Agency (aka the British FBI), stated that they had seized assets from Mrs Nuttall, even though she has not been found guilty of any offence. The NCA recovered an award-winning luxury hotel from property developer Eric Grove (89) of Solihull in the West Midlands, a £100,000 Bentley from Timothy Becker (55) a London Barrister – plus assets from Mrs Nuttall, although the amount seized from the lottery winner has not been disclosed due to a confidentiality deal.

It’s estimated that hundreds of millions of “dirty” cash was transferred through more than 100 bank accounts all around the world. The investigation into the Nuttall’s has taken eight pain-staking years, which saw officers’ probe roughly 100,000 transactions. Many say that cash was sourced from Russian embezzlement and UK fraud. Andy Lewis, NCA head of asset denial, said: “Jonathan Nuttall amassed considerable wealth as a result of his and others’ unlawful conduct. He is not himself a party to the claim. That is because he structured his business affairs so that he didn’t hold any of the recoverable property himself, leaving everything in the name of his wife and others. Recovering assets that have been illegally obtained is a priority for the NCA and we are pleased that our commitment to this investigation into Mr Nuttall and his associates has paid off in agreeing this settlement. The defendants were of high standing within their communities with interest in local properties and businesses. Crime most certainly has not paid in this case.”

Now, the pair must pay back £6,000,000 for laundering the money.