Prosecutors Recover £1.8 Million from Fugitive Money Launderer

Crime-fighting officials have recovered £1.8 million from fugitive money launderer Lenn Mayhew-Lewis, 71, by selling his assets, including his home, a painting, and gold bars. Mayhew-Lewis, whose company accounts were listed in the Panama Papers data leak, has been on the run since March 2023 and is believed to be in Africa. The largest amount raised came from the sale of his six-bedroom home in Oxted, Surrey, which sold for £766,000. A painting by artist Frank Auerbach, seized by the National Crime Agency (NCA), was auctioned on November 14, 2024, for £620,000. The NCA identified that Mayhew-Lewis purchased the artwork in 2017 to launder criminal cash. Additionally, nearly 18 pounds (8 kg) of gold bars and shavings found in a Bentley belonging to Mayhew-Lewis raised £469,000. Mayhew-Lewis was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering in his absence and received an additional nine-month sentence for perverting the course of justice. He was recorded discussing bribing officials in Africa. The NCA described Mayhew-Lewis as providing services that helped criminals obscure the origins of their cash. His operations included using multiple companies to filter payments and create fake documents to make transactions appear legitimate. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the recovered money was not voluntarily handed over by Mayhew-Lewis. David Spencer from the Policy Exchange think tank commended the NCA for their efforts in pursuing criminal assets, while Olivia Rose from the Crown Prosecution Service stated that the recovered funds would be used to combat organized crime.