By James Simons-
Two men have been found guilty after staging a cash in transit robbery worth £1 million in cash.
Andrew Measor, 51, and Stefano Cantaris, 39, were found to have participated in a robbery plot on December 30, 2021 in which Measor- a cash van driver- pretended to have been the victim of an armed heist.
The court heard how the plot was carefully planned over two years involving burner phones and ‘mission cars’ in a bid to avoid detection. The cash has not yet been recovered.
Detectives say the move was an inside job carried out using privileged information available only to employees that took more than two years of preparation.
Jurors were told that Measor staged a plot that presented him as leaving home in Loughton in December 2021, where he was met on the doorstep by a balaclava-clad man with a gun.
He claimed the armed man had threatened to harm his sleeping family unless he followed the gang’s orders.
CCTV showed the man being accosted on his doorstep by a man armed with a firearm and wearing a full facemask.
Measor, 51, of Danbury Road, Loughton, later claimed to police that this man had threatened to harm his family sleeping inside the address, unless he complied with instructions.
He said he was provided with a disposable phone and told to drive to his depot and collect his money for the day.
After following the instructions that morning, he left the depot with £920,000 in bank notes and £14,660 in coins in his van.
The investigation established Measor and a man called Stefanos Cantaris were connected and had been in contact with one another.
They met each other numerous times before the day of the theft, at locations they later returned to on the day of the ‘robbery’, said police.
Det Ch Insp Laura Hillier said: “The two men played their part in executing the plan but they were not as successful as they’d hoped in covering their tracks. The level of planning shows how determined they were to succeed.
“Our enquiries to trace the stolen cash continues.”
Measor was found guilty of conspiracy to steal and perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, February 21.
Cantaris, 39, of Albany Court, Epping, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Both were found not guilty of transferring criminal property and will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, March 24.
Shortly after beginning his shift, Measor pulled over and put the bags of money into large laundry bags (given to him by the man on his doorstep) before driving to a dirt track road off Friary Lane in Woodford.
When he arrived, two cars on cloned plates approached the van and three masked men removed the laundry bags.
Measor drove to nearby Oak Lane, handcuffed himself to the steering wheel, called his employer and stated he had been robbed, explaining that he’d had to use his nose to dial the number.
Measor was signed off sick from work, claiming he was traumatised from the robbery.
However when he was later arrested, texts from a phone that was analysed by police showed he told a friend he was “milking time off” and was feigning post-traumatic stress disorder for compensation.
Play Acting
The Met said that, during the ‘robbery’, Measor had in fact been play-acting for the CCTV to maintain the impression he was a genuine victim.
The investigation established Measor and a man called Stefanos Cantaris were connected and had been in contact with one another.
They met each other numerous times before the day of the theft, at locations they later returned to on the day of the ‘robbery’, said police.
Det Ch Insp Laura Hillier said: “The two men played their part in executing the plan but they were not as successful as they’d hoped in covering their tracks. The level of planning shows how determined they were to succeed.
“Our enquiries to trace the stolen cash continues.”
For the latest crime news in east London, join our East London Crime Watch group on Facebook.
Measor was found guilty of conspiracy to steal and perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, February 21.
Cantaris, 39, of Albany Court, Epping, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Both were found not guilty of transferring criminal property and will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, March 24.
Image:Met Police