Wanted money launderer 'connected with Bushey Class A drugs'

Lenn Mayhew-Lewis, of Oxted, Surrey, was convicted of running schemes to help criminals launder their cash but dodged a sentencing hearing.

He helped criminals blur the origins of their cash by using multiple companies to filter payments, and eventually pay them an income that would appear legitimate to outsiders.

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A payslip from an employer owned by the 68-year-old’s group was found at the address of another criminal, who was convicted in 2020 and jailed as part of a wider organised crime group who were collectively sentenced to more than 156 years.

Evidence of Class A drug production was also found at the Bushey home, the NCA said.

Jason Hulme, from the NCA’s International Corruption Unit, said: “Mayhew-Lewis enabled criminals to profit from serious and organised crime and circumvent the systems in place which would have alerted authorities.

“He and others who help launder the proceeds of crime are also profiteering from the exploitation and violence that so often comes with the likes of the drug trafficking trade.

Lenn Mayhew-Lewis custody image (Image: NCA)

“Mayhew-Lewis has been on the run since March this year. If anyone has information that could help us locate him please contact the NCA or Crimestoppers anonymously.”

The Jamaican national had been arrested while transporting eight kilos of gold worth around £250,000 in 2019 and sentenced to 10-month in prison for contempt of court in 2021 relating to “multiple breaches of a pre-charge restraint order” resulting from another arrest in 2020.

Mayhew-Lewis was then charged in August 2022 and found guilty following a trial at Southwark Crown Court in January 2023 before the warrant was issued when he failed to appear for his sentencing hearing.

Lenn Mayhew-Lewis with gold bars (Image: NCA)

He was sentenced to five years for money laundering in his absence and an additional nine months consecutive for perverting the course of justice after operating a scheme that helped criminals evade speeding offences.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts can contact the NCA on 0370 496 7622 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.