Mastermind behind £1m sham-heist sent back to prison for drug dealing after accomplice early release

The mastermind behind a £1 million sham-robbery has been jailed for drug dealing days before he was set to walk free. Stefanos Cantaris, 41, was put away for five years and four months at Southwark Crown Court in March 2023, but was due for release from HMP Highpoint, in Suffolk, the same week as a co-conspirator was set free under the Government's early release scheme.

On Wednesday (September 11), during a sentencing for three different offences at Snaresbrook Crown Court, prosecutor Charlotte Hole told the court '[Cantaris] is due for release imminently' and that his accomplice in the fake robbery, Andrew Measor, 52, 'was released yesterday' due to 'the circumstances', later clarifying this was a reference to issues with the prison capacity.

On Tuesday (September 10), more than 1,700 prisoners were released from custody early to tackle the crisis. The government has said offenders jailed for violent offences with sentences of at least four years, sex offenders and domestic abusers were not eligible for early release. But, there have been reports of violent offenders and abusers being released, though, according to the Ministry of Justice, not while serving tariffs for those offences.

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Andrew Measor
Andrew Measor was released from prison on Tuesday, September 10 -Credit:MPS

The inside man and the sham-heist

Cantaris, of Albany Close in Epping, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and was convicted by the jury of perverting the course of justice, alongside his accomplice, after the pair faked a cash-in-transit van heist on December 30 2021. Measor, a cash van driver from East London, was the 'inside man', handcuffing himself to steering wheel as he pretended to be the victim.

At the time of their conviction, the Metropolitan Police said the plot was planned over two years, using burner phones and 'mission cars' which were immediately crushed to allow the gang to go undetected. In the aftermath, Flying Squad detectives became suspicious someone must have had inside knowledge, and linked Measor and Cantaris together as the plotters.

During the six-week sham-heist trial at Southwark Crown Court, jurors heard Measor was met on the doorstep by a balaclava-clad gunman who, he claimed, threatened to harm his family if he did not follow the gang's orders. Given a burner phone and several large laundry bags, he said he was told to go to his workplace and collect £920,000 in bank notes and nearly £15,000 in coins.

CCTV showed him putting the money in bags after starting his shift, then driving to a dirty track off Friary Lane in Woodford. After pulling over, three men jumped out of a Vauxhall Combo van and Black VW Golf and took the cash. Measor then drove to nearby Oak Lane, cuffed himself to the steering wheel, and called the Dagenham office of his employer, Loomis, for help, claiming he used his nose to dial the number.

Police quickly guessed there must have been an inside man, because the robbers seemed to know the specifics of the company's security procedures. Detectives used CCTV, ANPR, and mobile phone analysis to show that Measor and Cantaris knew each other and had met multiple times at locations used on the day of the sham-robbery.

Andrew Measor
Andrew Measor handcuffed himself to the steering wheel after the fake robbery -Credit:PA

Police also revealed the use burner phones, which were later never recovered, and false number plates on at least four different cars, some of which had multiple sets of cloned plates which could easily be swapped. All vehicles used in the offence were crushed in the hours after the theft.

Despite their convictions for stealing and perverting the course of justice, none of the money has been recovered. The Crown alleges Cantaris blew a fortune on Rolex watches and holidays to Dubai, Colombia, Morocco, Ibiza, Portugal, and Albania. This week the court heard the missing cash is still being pursued through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Terrance Burrell, Mark Kendall, Paul McSweeney, Christopher Shipp, and Saimir Neziri, were all acquitted by the jury of conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to conceal or transfer and conspiracy to do acts intended to pervert the course of justice.

'Active connections with upstream supplier'

At Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday (September 11), Cantaris appeared in a grey t-shirt and jeans as he faced a separate set of charges uncovered during the fake robbery investigation. Meanwhile, Measor, of Danbury Road in Loughton, was set free under the Keir Starmer's early release scheme on Tuesday (September 10), less than two years into his four year 10 month sentence.

The court heard Cantaris was arrested while using an alias at a golf club in July 2022, but refused to hand over the code for his phone, forcing police to send them off for extraction at a laboratory. When the mobile was cracked, it revealed encrypted messages on WhatsApp and Signal that showed he was involved dealing skunk cannabis, a super-strength strain associated with psychosis.

Cantaris claimed he was only acting as a broker in the supply chain, taking around 10 per cent off the wholesale value for his own profit. But, prosecutor Ms Hole was able to point to a conversation that implicated him deeper in the operation, reading out a message where he referred to the drugs as 'ours'.

Each kilo of the Cannabis was worth between £2,900 to £3,350, with Cantaris earning around £300 per kilo he supplied. Expert analysis of the messages concluded, over the two month period of activity, there was around 39kg of the drug supplied, a further 16kg requested, and around 55kg held in reserve.

Stefanos Cantaris was jailed for 22 months for his role in Cannabis supply (stock photo) -Credit:Getty Images
Stefanos Cantaris was jailed for 22 months for his role in Cannabis supply (stock photo) -Credit:Getty Images

Messages also showed him trying to work out how much he could make from each delivery, and using other people to collect and deliver the drugs. Judge Charles Falk said this was designed to put him 'away from risk', while maintaining 'close links' with those who supplied the drugs from above.

Ms Hole also said Cantaris 'had active connections with an upstream supplier' and referred to messages where he fretted about 'running low' on cash, but not having too much on him 'in case I get raided'. These messages, and £39,085 of credit unaccounted for in his account, also implicated Cantaris in a money laundering offence.

Cantaris pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Cannabis and conspiring to be concerned in the retention of criminal property ahead of this week's hearing.

The prison phone and the tracking device

Stefanos Cantaris allegedly directed 'serious organised criminality' while on remand at HMP Wandsworth -Credit:In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images
Stefanos Cantaris allegedly directed 'serious organised criminality' while on remand at HMP Wandsworth -Credit:In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images

While Cantaris was on remand at HMP Wandsworth, awaiting his trial for the sham-heist, prison officers thought of him as a well-behaved inmate. That changed when a screw opened the door to his cell and found him 'tapping away' on an iPhone from his bed, 'directing serious organised criminality', as the prosecution put it.

On the device, police found emails from Cantaris to family members asking to be put in contact with Terrance Burrell, a co-defendant in the trial who was described as a 'long-term friend' by the defence. Burrell, also from Epping, was on bail, and, like Cantaris, had been banned from contacting any of his co-defendants.

As well as trying to speak to Burrell, police also discovered Cantaris was offering a cash payment of £1,000 to a contact called 'L', instructing him to install and remove a tracker on someone's car. Cantaris told 'L' the person he wanted to track would not go to police if he discovered the tracker 'because he is a pussy'.

'L' later turned out to be a man called Lorcan Griffin, a physiotherapist who provided Cantaris a reference support his mitigation in court. The reference, with an NHS letterhead, claimed Cantaris suffered a drug addiction.

The messages also contained reference to potential legal advice about the use of a tracker from his brother, Costa Cantaris, a criminal defence solicitor at the firm Cantaris Locke Solicitors. "He said [using the tracker] was a legal action and he would get legal advice from Costa, his brother. Costa Cantaris is a criminal solicitor," said Ms Hole at Wednesday's hearing.

Ms Hole said the reference to the use of a tracker was 'significant' because Cantaris was found in possession of a tracking device when he was arrested in 2022. There was, however, no evidence the tracker was ever placed, as had been discussed.

Other messages on the illegal phone included references to moving money and trying to speak to his mum. There were also searches for any news about the impending trial, the transfer of prison category, and how to change the address of post office boxes near Edgware Road that vehicles used in the sham-heist were registered to.

There was no evidence Cantaris ever managed to speak to Burrell, or effect any change on the trial, but Judge Falk said it was clear the illegal phone, in preference to the monitored prison line, was used for 'nefarious purposes'.

'I accept your sentence'

The hearing was held at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Hollybush Hill in Wanstead -Credit:Getty Images
The hearing was held at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Hollybush Hill in Wanstead -Credit:Getty Images

Judge Falk heard submissions from defence counsel, Richard Martin, ranging from the illness of his client's mother, his genuine remorse and hard work in prison. The barrister also claimed the attempts at messaging Burrell were 'nothing more than for innocent conversations' with 'a long-term friend'. Cantaris, who has depression and OCD, further said he got into crime 'to pay off a drug debt'.

Cantaris was sentenced to 22 months for being concerned in the supply of Cannabis, 11 months concurrent for retaining criminal property, and a further eight months consecutive for possessing the iPhone in prison. The sentence would have been much longer, if not for the legal principle of totality which allows the judge to reduce the total sentence where terms are consecutive.

After he was jailed for 30 months, Cantaris said: "Thank you very much. I accept your sentence and you wont find me in front of Your Honour again." Judge Falk wished Cantaris's mother 'all the best' with her illness.

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