Security van driver fakes being held at gunpoint in £1 million robbery plot

Two men have been found guilty after faking an armed ambush in a complex attempt to steal almost £1 million.

Andrew Measor, a security van driver, claimed robbers had handcuffed him to the wheel of his van and that he had to use his nose to dial his phone to call for help after he was “raided” on December 30 2021.

The 51-year-old said £920,000 in banknotes had been stolen after a man armed with a gun approached him as he left his home.

But Measor had handcuffed himself to the steering wheel, then waited two hours before raising the alarm over the faked robbery in Ilford with Stefanos Cantaris, 39.

Police later found text messages of Measor bragging to friends about “milking” time off work after claiming he had post traumatic stress disorder following the fake heist.

Measor, of Danbury Road, Loughton, was found guilty of conspiracy to steal and perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.

Cantaris,  of Albany Court, Epping, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

They were both cleared of conspiracy to launder money.

In their investigation Met Police detectives discovered that it had taken the pair more than two years to prepare their fake heist, which involved burner phones and ‘mission cars’.

Measor left the Loomis depot in Dagenham with £920,000 in bank notes and £14,660 in coins in his van.

Shortly after beginning his shift, Measor was seen on CCTV as he pulled over and put the bags of money into large laundry bags.

He then drove the van to a dirt track road off Friary Lane in Woodford, arriving there at 6.30am.

Soon after, a white Vauxhall Combo van and black VW Golf, both on cloned plates, pulled up and approached the van.

Footage played in court showed three masked men remove the chequered laundry bags containing the bank notes and the disposable phone given to Measor.

Measor then drove the van to the nearby Oak Lane and handcuffed himself to the steering wheel of the van.

He called his employer and stated he had been robbed, explaining that he’d had to use his nose to dial the number.

Police arrived shortly after and launched an investigation. Soon into their enquiries they became suspicious about the nature of the robbery.

Detectives were able to show that during the robbery, Measor had in fact been play-acting for the CCTV to maintain the impression he was a genuine victim.

The investigation established that Measor and Cantaris were connected and had been in contact with one another.

The pair used burner style phones to use that day to avoid linking them to each other. All burner phones were destroyed in the hours following the robbery and never recovered by police.

Det Ch Insp Laura Hillier, from the Met Flying Squad, said: “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.

“The two men played their part in executing the plan but they were not as successful as they’d hoped in covering their tracks. The level of planning shows how determined they were to succeed.

“Our enquiries to trace the stolen cash continues.”