London's Lottery Winner Rejects Alleged Bomb Conspiracy in Capital City's Jurisdictional Core
Opulent British entrepreneur, Jonathan Nuttall, has refuted allegations of being implicated in a perplexing scheme to implant phony explosives in the legal hub of London.
At the age of 50, Jonathan's wealth skyrocketed further when his spouse, Amanda, bagged a £2.5 million (US$3.1 million) windfall from the UK National Lottery in 2008.
The Nuttalls' extravagant spending habits were an open secret, jetting off on private vacations in Cannes and Dubai, amassing luxury vehicles, and purchasing high-end real estate. All of this, as per the National Crime Agency (NCA), resembles the FBI.
In 2019, Amanda Nuttall and two associates decided to relinquish roughly £6 million's worth of assets, including a prestigious boutique hotel, a £100K Bentley, and one of the Nuttalls' estates, Embley Manor in Hampshire, to evade a criminal trial.
Despite Amanda Nuttall's arguments, the NCA, which holds civil forfeiture powers, could not verify that Amanda's lottery winnings solely funded their extravagant lifestyle.
Accusations of Money Laundering
Instead, the NCA alleged that Jonathan Nuttall, who has a history of fraud convictions, manipulated his wealth to appear in his wife's name. According to the NCA, this was intended to conceal his alleged association with an international money laundering syndicate, laundering illicit funds for one of Europe's most notorious drug smugglers.
Investigators unveiled Jonathan Nuttall's suspected illicit activities during their probe into drug trafficker Amir Azam. They assert that Nuttall was part of a network that funneled billions through accounts in the UK, Hong Kong, Russia, and Switzerland.
Currently, Nuttall stands trial in London's Old Bailey court, charged with conspiring with two others to plant two "devices," resembling bombs, in Grays Inn, one of London's four "Inns of Court," or legal institutions.
One was stationed outside Andrew Sutcliffe KC's workplace, whom the NCA assigned to challenge the Nuttalls during the 2019 proceeds-of-crime hearing.
‘Personal Vendetta’
The Old Bailey heard that Jonathan Nuttall held a long-standing grudge against Sutcliffe, prompting him to devise a bomb hoax plot with his chauffeur and co-defendant, Michael Sode.
Prosecutors suspect that Nuttall was disgruntled about losing Embley Manor in the forfeiture settlement.
Sode enlisted the help of Michael Brodle, 45, Joshua Broddle, 20, Charlie Broddle, 18, and George Gray, 25, to execute the plan, prosecutors claim.
Michael Brodle confessed to planting the fake explosives on 14 September 2021, resulting in building evacuations and road blocks. The other accused, including Jonathan Nuttall, deny any involvement.
The trial is ongoing.
