A man who killed an off-duty police officer a decade ago has admitted being part of an organised crime group (OCG) and laundering up to £13m, following a National Crime Agency investigation.
Timmy Donovan, 40, (right) was jailed for six years in 2015 after being convicted of the manslaughter of Merseyside Police constable Neil Doyle, 36, on a night out in Liverpool.
After he was released on licence, Donovan joined forces with five other offenders who variously dealt drugs and laundered the proceeds.
Donovan’s OCG was identified by officers from the NCA’s Complex Financial Crime Team. They were working on Operation Venetic – the UK response to the takedown of encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
On the platform, Donovan, of Walsingham Road, Liverpool, was known by the handle “Astralcleaner”.
He played a key role in the supply of Class A drugs and co-ordinated the collection, storage and laundering of the OCG’s money – between £10m and £13m – in cash through third party business accounts.
Almost every single door in his house was specially reinforced when NCA officers arrested him.
A digital review of Donovan’s devices revealed images of a spreadsheet detailing money owed by and to him, as well as multiple messages indicating the scale of the cash collection, and his interest in the packaging of money.
This included: “3,424,000 owed in eng”; “934000 all got it now to come off bill”; “200 + 9 for 4.5%”, a reference to a delivery of £200,000, plus a commission of 4.5% (£9,000); and a note about a wodge of £50 notes, which were “zipped up and tied at the top”.
NCA officers discovered EncroChat conversations and images revealing that Donovan had also played a significant role in the supply of class A drugs to the UK.
In discussions with other organised criminals, he asked for “any news on far ones” (container ships transporting cocaine), and haggled over the price of “botts” and “tops” – references to kilogram quantities of heroin and cocaine.
In January he admitted conspiracy to supply 23.7 kilos of cocaine, one kilo of heroin and money laundering of between £10 – £13million.
Four other men also admitted their roles in the OCG.
On Tuesday, on the eve of his trial, the final OCG member Christopher Roper, 41, of Allerton Road, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Roper would often store criminal cash where he worked, at a well-known garage, the Wavertree Care Centre.
Roper was also on EncroChat as “sentientwolf” and would use the platform – which offenders believed was impenetrable – to arrange the transfers of cash, for which he sometimes received a 4.5% fee.
Accomplice James Vaughan, 38, of Green Lane, Liverpool, was previously on the NCA’s Most Wanted fugitives list.
He was arrested as part of the investigation in 2020 and officers found more than £2,000 at his home along with two Rolex watches, a Bulgari watch and packaging for a cash counting machine.
But he fled to Spain where he was eventually traced and arrested and extradited last year.
Evidence showed that Donovan would have cash delivered to Roper, who would arrange the payment of it into third party business accounts. Vaughan, who used the handle “lameregent”, was often enlisted to receive, count, package, and store cash, which was then transported to Roper by Kenneth Kean, 59, of Huyton House Road, Liverpool, and Paul Duncan, 56, of Gentwood Road, Liverpool.
Arron O’Sullivan, 41, of Deepfield Drive, Liverpool, operated as “filthyburrito” and “amplebee” on EncroChat, and supplied drugs for the OCG.
The NCA’s investigation was supported by Merseyside Police.
All six will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on 3 February 2025.
Gary Cathcart, Head of Financial Investigation at the National Crime Agency, said: “Donovan is a dangerous individual who returned to criminality as soon as he left prison.
“NCA officers painstakingly combed through EncroChat messages to identify him and his co-conspirators, proving the extent of their involvement in both money laundering and drug trafficking.
“These crimes ruin lives and destroy communities, and the NCA, alongside our partners here in the UK and abroad, will pursue every angle to ensure that those who commit them face justice.”
23 January 2025
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