A drug dealer has been jailed after investigators uncovered more than £709,000 passing through his bank accounts despite him being officially unemployed.
Ross Black, 33, from Dalgety Bay in Fife, came to the attention of investigators after suspicious financial activity was identified across accounts linked to him.
Black opened a Monzo account in May 2023 and claimed he worked on a manufacturing production line.
But within just two months, some £43,724 had passed through the account.
Further investigation uncovered regular round-figure payments from around 300 different people, with some transactions carrying references including “gear”, “rent” and “flights”.
Investigators eventually established that approximately £709,623 had passed through accounts associated with Black.
No income tax or National Insurance since 2021
Financial enquiries revealed the former welder had not paid income tax or National Insurance since February 2021.
A money laundering investigation by the Crown Office subsequently led police to Black.
Officers located him in his Nissan Juke, where 17 bags of high-purity cocaine with an estimated value of £1,500 were recovered.
A further £10,000 in cash was discovered during a search of his home.
Analysis showed the cocaine had a purity of between 76% and 79%.
Experts said the purity indicated access to cocaine at a high level within the supply chain.
Four years in prison
Black appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh, where he pleaded guilty to offences involving the supply of cocaine and acquiring criminal property under proceeds of crime legislation.
He was sentenced to four years in prison.
The court heard the sentence would otherwise have been six years but was reduced because of Black’s early guilty plea.
The case followed an investigation into the huge amounts of unexplained money moving through Black’s accounts despite his lack of declared legitimate income.
Black is now beginning his four-year prison sentence.
