A consultant surgeon has been jailed after police dismantled a gang that laundered nearly £5m from London's cannabis factories back to Vietnam.

The family run criminal network laundered the cash back to Vietnam through an unregistered money transfer business. They would then utilise family in Vietnam to receive the money and conceal its ultimate destination.

The "profits" were collected from a Vietnamese restaurant on the Old Kent Road, before being laundered through money transfer.

"Warning to professionals"

Running this front business were a Dr Chinh Truong Nguyen and his wife Tammy Vu Tram Nguyen

Dr Nguyen was a consultant orthopedic surgeon and prominent member of London's Vietnamese community and hid behind this veneer of respectability to launder the proceeds of cannabis production.

DS John Lindsay, from the Met's Payback Unit said:

"This should act as a warning to professional people who get involved in organised crime, they will be prosecuted, imprisoned and have their assets stripped from them".

Family convicted

His wife Tammy Nguyen, 31 was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment suspended for 2 years and 120 hours community service for 'cheating her Majesty's revenue' regarding the proceeds of the money transfer business.

The surgeon's brother, Kinh Quoc Nguyen. 32, ran a hydroponics equipment supply business called Forever Green. He was arrested along with his partner, Trang Pham, 32 for drugs production and money laundering.

He ran some cannabis factories himself as well as supplying other cannabis producers with equipment to assist them with their cannabis production. Furthermore he and his wife were also involved in laundering money back to Vietnam via Canada.

On Friday at Wood Green Crown Court, Kinh Quoc Nguyen was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to cultivate cannabis, being concerned in the production of cannabis and money laundering and his partner Trang Pham was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for 2 years and 200 hours community service for money laundering.

Officers from the Met's Payback unit currently have in excess of £1m assets in the UK restrained and enquiries are continuing in respect of tracing overseas assets of all defendants.