‘Bingo Winnings’ worth Thousands and Counterfeit Cigarettes to be Confiscated from Gateshead Woman

In what seems to be an episode of ‘strange but true,’ comes the real-life story of a woman from the North East of England who just happened to have her ‘bingo winnings’ confiscated by authorities. No need to start panicking about whether this will happen to you the next time you win at bingo, as this is a very unusual case which we suspect has nothing to do with the popular numbers game.

Linda Jones, a 61-year old from Bensham in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear was been caught with more than 12,000 illegal cigarettes in her home, but that wasn’t all. The woman also had thousands of pounds in cash laying around her home – cash which will now be seized by the authorities.

Previously pleading guilty to possessing tobacco with no UK duty marks and possession with intent to supply with no health warnings, certainly landed the woman in hot water. Thanks to a police tip-off last year, the illegal sales came to an abrupt ending, however, things were set to get worse.

Trading standards officers from the area along with the police gained entry to her home via a warrant last April. During the raid, not only did they discover 11,420 illegal cigarettes and 800g of rolling tobacco, but cash totalling more than £2,200. Magistrates told Linda on Monday that she would lose the cash despite claiming she made it legitimately from ‘playing bingo games.’

Under the Spotlight

We’ve no doubt whatsoever that the cash ‘winnings’ were from her illegal selling activity, although, the courts like to get these things right. As a result of her claim, a financial investigator was brought in; Dianne Chapman. Gateshead Court heard that tens of thousands of pounds had moved through Linda’s account over the last two-years, this despite only earning a low wage from being a cleaner.

Turnover in her bank account for 2017 was £14,620 and in the 19-months leading up to October last year, her account was up to £42,509. She must have been one hell of a bingo player! Between April 2018 and October 2019, a total of 51 cash deposits were made into her account totalling £17,765. Ms Chapman said: "When I see the turnover it causes me the suspicion that the account was being used for criminal money."

No but, Yeh but!

But the accused was having none of it and tried to plead her innocence on the cash in her bank and home. She said: "I used to run a pub going back to 2013 and got good wages and the proceeds of that went into bonds. The majority of money came from bonds or lending it to my son or my partner's son, and they pay it back.”

Linda continued: "The money that was in the house was saved for bills or birthdays and the money downstairs I had took out to pay the bills and they had the cards."

Claiming that £20K was credited to her account from bonds, Linda still tried to keep the money; "I work two jobs and up until last October I worked three jobs, now it is just two. My probation officer is going to help me get a full-time job. The sums could have been my partner's son paying me back, could have been from the bingo, could've been off the roulette table or could have been bond money.”

The verdict? The magistrates court saw through the lies and granted the application for Linda Jones to forfeit the cash. Plus, a fine of £100 was handed to her.

What do you make of this unusual bingo case? Let us know your thoughts below.