Crime Lord ‘The Iceman’ Jailed For 12 years For Money Laundering

One of Britain’s top 10 crime lords was jailed for a record 12 years and nine months yesterday after a three-year covert operation by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

James “The Iceman” Stevenson will spend his 42nd birthday today in prison, starting the longest sentence handed down by a Scottish judge for money laundering.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Stevenson, of Burnside near Glasgow, had laundered more than £1m of dirty money, all of it the proceeds of drug trafficking, over the past three years.

In the dock with him was his stepson and henchman Gerard Carbin, 26, who got five years and six months. The pair were targeted by detectives who bugged the homes of both men with electronic eavesdropping equipment.

Both admitted laundering drugs money to acquire 55 high-value watches worth £307,087 at various addresses in East Kilbride and Glasgow between December 1, 2003, and September 30 last year.

They also admitted hiding £204,510 of criminal money in Carbin’s luxury £320,000 villa at Campsie Road, Lindsayfield, East Kilbride, which was bought by Stevenson in 2005.

Stevenson, of Fishiecoates Gardens, Burnside, who described himself as a self-employed car valeter and jewellery trader, also admitted buying a fleet of 10 Skoda Octavia cars worth £98,605.

These were all licensed in his wife Caroline’s name, and used in a taxi business called CS Cars as a conduit for laundering drugs money. He also admitted laundering a further £389,035 of criminal money, and Carbin admitted laundering £7820 found in his house and £5000 found at another taxi firm.
Organised crime is led by ruthless and dangerous individuals

Detectives from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) listened to thousands of hours of conversation between the pair and their criminal associates, some sufficiently damning to bring them to justice.

During their investigation they discovered that Stevenson had a flat in Amsterdam which he used as a bolt hole for his crooked deals or when he got wind of possible arrests – unaware that Scottish and Dutch police had him under surveillance there too.

Jailing Stevenson, Lord Hodge described him as a major figure in the world of serious crime.

He said money laundering provided an “essential service, went hand in hand with the drug trade, and contributed materially to its profitability”.

Lord Hodge had praise for the SCDEA which brought Stevenson and Carbin to justice in an investigation called Operation Folklore.

He said Stevenson was arrested at a time when his criminal activities were “developing and expanding”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stephen Ward, crime coordinator of the SCDEA, said yesterday: “Organised crime is led by ruthless and dangerous individuals who seek to make profit from the pain and suffering of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“The public expect our response to be tough. I promise those involved in this evil organised crime that this agency will remove them from their positions of influence and confiscate their money, jewellery, cars and houses.”

The authorities are now set to strip the pair of their homes, cars and assets believed to total more than £2m. Stevenson, called The Iceman because of his cold cruelty, was arrested at one point as a suspect in the murder of another crime Godfather, Tony McGovern. He was also linked to a number of major gangsters including his close associate, John Gorman, 50, from Irvine, the man responsible for flooding Ayrshire with drugs. Operation Folklore began to target not just the flow of drugs from South America, Africa, Turkey and Europe, but also the flow of the “dirty money”.

So far during Operation Folklore detectives have seized more than 12 tons of controlled drugs with an estimated street value of £61m. A total of 71 criminals have been arrested and in addition four firearms and ammunition have been recovered. The two criminals appeared for sentence yesterday, dressed in suits.

The agency has now adopted a similar business-like approach to snaring their kind. From the beginning of this month it is able to recruit directly, as well as having officers seconded from regional police forces. In this way, said Mr Ward, a new breed of crime-fighters – forensic accountants and computer experts – have honed their specialist skills in civilian education and business.

Stevenson’s sentence was in two separate terms, one of nine years and one of three years nine months, to run consecutively. He can only claim remission on the second term. So he will serve a full nine years before he can start to put in time towards parole.

Proceedings to recover £2m worth of assets from Stevenson under the Proceeds of Crime Act will be held on May 21.