£8k criminal cash stash confiscated from Cardiff woman

Sunday 31 July 2022

The Royal Court has ordered that more than £8,000 be confiscated from a woman who was stopped at the airport trying to flee Jersey with wads of cash stuffed in her bag and trainers.

Cardiff-born Kasie Ann Ellis (41) was handed a suspended sentence back in May for her dealings with criminal cash.

Amid suspicions that she had imported drugs, she was stopped by Customs when she flew into the island from Bristol on 5 January and held in custody for three days.

She subsequently tested positive for covid and, due to having no funds for accommodation, ordered to isolate there on 8 January.

Two days later, she left to meet a man at the Royal Yacht Hotel carrying a black handbag. She went to a fifth-floor room with him and left just two minutes later, returning to the Sarum and booking a flight to Birmingham for the next day.

At the Airport, she was arrested by the police for breaching the covid regulations, namely that she was required to isolate until 15 January.

Customs also stopped Ellis and found £8,020 in her bags, including a large quantity of £10 and £20 notes in a pair of trainers.

Mobile phone messages included instructions about collecting the money seized from her, while airline records showed her taking numerous flights between the island and Bristol and Southampton airports between January 2021 and January 2022.

Although the exact source of the money could not be proven, the Royal Court said in May that they agreed with the prosecution that it was the result of criminal activity.

Pictured: Ellis was given a suspended sentence in May by Jersey's Royal Court.

However, she avoided prison after the Deputy Bailiff, sitting with Jurats Jerry Ramsden and Kim Averty, were told of how she had been preyed upon and exploited by others, as well as having caring responsibilities. She was given a two-year supervision order, to be conducted by a supervising officer of the Wales Probation Trust, where Ellis lives.

On Friday (29 July), the Royal Court sat to consider a confiscation order against her. Ellis appeared via video link from the UK.

Having considered all the evidence, the prosecution – represented in court by the Attorney General – estimated the overall 'benefit figure' to be £41,313 during the course of Ellis' offending.

However, a confiscation order was only made in the sum of £8,020 – the same cash quantity as she was discovered to be holding at the airport.