The pair were found guilty after a thorough investigation by the Met’s Flying Squad.
The sophisticated criminal plan was uncovered during a seven-month investigation after police suspicions were raised shortly after the alleged victim reported the robbery in December 2021.
Detectives discovered that it was an inside job carried out with privileged information only available to employees. They also discovered that it had taken more than two years of planning, as well as the use of burner phones and admission cars,’ to remove any link between the perpetrators and the robbery.
Andrew Measor, a specialist cash-in-transit driver, left his home address for work on December 30, 2021.
As he was leaving, a man armed with a firearm and wearing a full facemask approached him on his doorstep. Measor later told police that this man had threatened to harm his sleeping family inside the address unless he followed the gang’s instructions. He claimed he was given a disposable phone and told to drive to his depot to collect his day’s pay. He did so, and later that morning he drove away from the depot with £920,000 in cash and £14,660 in coins in his van.
Measor was seen on CCTV shortly after starting his shift pulling over and putting the money bags into large laundry bags (given to him by the man on his doorstep). He then drove the van to a dirt road off Friary Lane in Woodford, arriving at 06:30 a.m. Measor would have been outfitted with a body-worn camera and a personal attack alarm as part of his job. The van he was driving had multiple security features, and he could be seen on CCTV communicating with the disposable phone to give the impression he was under duress.
Soon after arriving in Woodford, a white Vauxhall Combo van and a black VW Golf, both with cloned plates, pulled up alongside the van and approached it. Three masked men were seen in court removing the chequered laundry bags containing the bank notes and the disposable phone given to Measor.
Measor then drove the van to nearby Oak Lane, where he handcuffed himself to the steering wheel. He called his boss and told him he’d been robbed, explaining that he’d had to dial the number with his nose.
Soon after, police arrived and began an investigation. They became suspicious about the nature of the robbery early in their investigation. According to his account, those involved were aware of the specific security procedures and must have obtained information from someone within the company.
Measor was signed off work because he was traumatised by the robbery. When he was later arrested, police discovered texts from his phone that showed he was “milking time off” and feigning PTSD for compensation.
Extensive investigations into CCTV, ANPR data (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), and phone work revealed a series of events leading up to and following the staged robbery.
Detectives were able to show that Measor had been acting for the CCTV during the robbery in order to give the impression that he was a genuine victim.
The investigation revealed that Measor and a man named Stefanos Cantaris were linked and had communicated with one another.
It was established that they met several times prior to the robbery, at locations they later returned to on the day of the robbery. They used burner phones that day to avoid connecting them to each other. All burner phones were destroyed in the hours after the robbery and were never found by police.
Several false number plates were used on at least four different cars, which they swapped into with the cash to get away from the crime scene. Some of these vehicles had multiple sets of cloned plates that could be swapped out. According to investigations, all vehicles used in the crime were crushed in the hours following the theft.
“This case is an example of how far proactive policing can go, it was a substantial investigation but has paid off following the outcome in court,” said Detective Chief Inspector Laura Hillier of the Flying Squad.
“The two men did their part in carrying out the plan, but they were not as successful as they had hoped in covering their tracks. The level of preparation demonstrates how determined they were to succeed.
“Our efforts to recover the stolen funds continue.”
In July 2022, the men were charged with conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer, or remove criminal property.
On Tuesday, February 21, Andrew Measor, 51, of Danbury Road, Loughton, was found guilty of conspiracy to steal and perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court.
Stefano Cantaris, 39, of Albany Court, Epping, pleaded guilty to theft conspiracy and was convicted of perverting the course of justice.
They were both found not guilty of criminal property transfer.
On Friday, March 24, they will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court.
