A New Malden man was sent to prison this afternoon, for his part in a million pound bank scan in which some of Britain's richest people were fleeced.

Naresh Patwari, 51, was handed a two year jail sentence for laundering nearly £200,000 stolen from accounts held at Barclays Bank in Sloane Square, central London.

During a packed sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court this afternoon, it was revealed how Patwari, a successful businessman originally from India, transferred £196,700 to Swift GB bank accounts in Hong Kong and Mumbai.

He was given a relatively light sentence, the judge said, becuase it was clear he was not the orchestrator of the laundering operation and there was no evidence he had accessed money gotten from drug deals.