By Tony O'Riley-
The Hampshire hotel has been seized by an anti-crime agency after an eight year investigation into money laundering.
The luxurious White Horse in Romsey was seized following a £6m probe by the National Crime Agency. The Agency discovered hundreds of millions of pounds transferred through over 100 bank accounts held globally including in the UK, Russia, Hong Kong, and Switzerland. The grand findings came following an investigation into previously successful Romsey businessman Jonathan Nuttall, whose wife won £2.5m on the national lottery in 2008.
Nuttal’s activities were discovered during a separate investigation involving drug smuggler, Amir Azam, where £4m was recovered.he High Court endorsed consent orders agreed by the NCA and Mrs Nuttall, property developer Eric Grove, 89, of Lapworth near Solihull, and barrister Timothy Becker, 55, from, London, who between them held some of the proceeds of crime including the £100k Bentley Mulsanne
The investigation unearthed the unscrupulous activities of Lottery winner, Amanda Nuttall in using her £2.5million jackpot to cover up her husband’s massive money-laundering scheme.
Amanda Nuttall, 45, lived a luxurious lifestyle after she won the lottery jackpot in 2008, she and her husband were able to afford an international jet-set lifestyle.
Amanda Nutwell and her husband shopped at Harrods, chartered private planes for their holidays, and bought luxury cars costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The couple also bought property on the prestigious Embley Park estate in Romsey, Hampshire, as well as the nearby White Horse Hotel and Brasserie, an award-winning luxury 29-bedroom hotel.
LAVISH
The lavish lifestyle afforded by her lottery will was not enough for them. An eight-year National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation revealed that Amanda’s businessman husband Jonathan Nuttall was at the heart of a massive international money-laundering scheme. The 46-year-old businessman allegedly helped transfer hundreds of millions of pounds through over 100 bank accounts in the UK, Russia, Hong Kong and Switzerland.
Eleven properties are in the process of recovery , including the White Horse Hotel as well as a £100,000 Bentley Mulsanne car.
Andy Lewis, Head of Asset Denial at the NCA, said: “Jonathan Nuttall amassed considerable wealth as a result of his and others’ unlawful conduct.
“He is not himself a party to the claim. That is because he structured his business affairs so that he didn’t hold any of the recoverable property himself, leaving everything in the name of his wife and others.”
Through Nuttall’s scheme, the couple were able to live in a £2,000 a week flat in Belgravia, London, take holidays to Dubai and Cannes, and send their three children to Stowe, a Buckinghamshire boarding school with fees of £38,000 a year.n a civil action, the National Crime Agency –known as the British FBI – has seized assets from Mrs Nuttall, who has not been found guilty of any offence.
The NCA recovered £6million-worth of property from three people, including an award-winning luxury hotel and a £100,000 Bentley. The exact amount taken from Mrs Nuttall cannot be revealed due to a confidentiality deal.