SWROCU- Final men sentenced as part of £2.2 million money laundering investigation

Two Gloucester men who laundered more than £300,000 through Post Office branches in Gloucestershire and Bristol as part of a wider £2.2 million criminal operation were jailed at Bristol Crown Court yesterday (Friday 14 August).

Patrick White, 31, from Spa Road and Thomas Dainty, 31, from Beckford Close, Abbeymead both pleaded guilty to their roles operating as part of an eight-strong organised crime group.  

They also pleaded guilty to drugs offences, with both men admitting being concerned in the supply of class A (cocaine), and Dainty also admitting being concerned in the supply of class B (cannabis).  

White was handed three years and eight months and Dainty two years and nine months in prison.  

The money laundering operation was led by Guiseppe Sangiovanni, 35, from Belworth Drive in Cheltenham. He was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison in April after admitting recruiting one woman and six men to launder £2.2 million, which was immediately converted into cryptocurrency.   

When officers searched his flat, they seized £30,000 found on top of his fridge, a display case of Rolex watches, a Porsche and designer clothing.  

Sara Buffin, 43, from Valley Gardens, Quedgeley, was also found to have played a significant role, laundering over £1 million. She was sentenced in February to three years in prison.  

In total, the group made 1,168 transactions over four months, laundering between £93,000 and £1 million individually. Sangiovanni himself paid in cash totalling £80,000.  

All eight offenders were arrested by officers from SWROCU, supported by Gloucestershire Constabulary, in February 2022.  

Peter Highway, who led the SWROCU investigation, said: “Our investigation started following an alert about suspicious cash deposits into bank accounts using 28 Post Office branches and two bank paying-in machines in our region.  

“Through painstaking analysis of hundreds of transactions and work to obtain information from numerous countries, we were able to evidence the extent of Sangiovanni’s operation and the involvement of those he recruited.  

“Ultimately, Sangiovanni was making money by laundering – and getting others to launder – criminals’ cash for them, which is likely to have derived from crimes committed in the Cheltenham and Gloucestershire areas.   

“While criminals will always need to seek ways to launder their dirty money, this case shows the ability we have, working with the financial services industry, to target those who are enabling that to happen. By laundering money for other criminals, they are complicit and we can and will bring them to justice for that.  

“We are now working to secure confiscation orders for the cash and assets seized from Sangiovanni, Buffin, and others.”  

Four other men, all from Gloucestershire, were handed suspended sentences in February 2026. 

Patrick WHITE

 

Thomas DAINTY

 

Guiseppe SANGIOVANNI

 

Sara BUFFIN

 

Cash on bed from Buffin phone

Cash in shoe box from Buffin phone