A ‘naive’ young woman who allowed her bank account to be used to launder the proceeds of crime has been handed a six-month suspended sentence.

Sophie Grundy, 26, made eight cash deposits totalling £13,970 into her Isle of Man Bank account and made payments out totalling £13,000.

She would also change Manx notes into English currency.

Grundy, of the Newtown estate in Santon, had pleaded guilty to entering into an arrangement to allow someone else to use her bank accounts to launder the proceeds of crime.

She appeared for sentencing at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Friday.

Prosecutor James Robinson said Grundy’s bank account transactions were reviewed as part of Operation Extraction, which has seen four people successfully prosecuted for laundering in excess of £1m through various bank accounts.

Police found a number of cash payments in and corresponding payments out to third parties between May 25 and October 7 2022 which appeared suspicious.

Some of the payments were to recipients known, or suspected, to be involved in criminal activity, specifically drug dealing.

Interviewed by police, Grundy said she had been approached by the brother of a good friend via SnapChat message asking for her to help him out as he did not have a bank account.

It was arranged that he would leave a bundle of bank notes in the glove compartment of her unattended unlocked car with details of which account to transfer onwards to.

The defendant would bank the cash, and make the transfer or, on occasion, swap Manx notes to English notes and then leave the money back in the same location for the man to collect.

Grundy denied knowing or suspecting that this was criminal cash, and just thought she was being helpful - although she accepted, she did later become suspicious.

Handing her a six-month sentence suspended for 12 months, Deemster Graeme Cook said she had been naive but had sensibly accepted she must have made some money out of her actions.