A CWMBRAN woman accused of laundering money raised by selling fake cigarettes, deposited large sums of cash into her bank account each month, two days before paying off her credit card bill, a court heard.

Sara Skinner, 44, of Oakleigh Court, has denied eight counts of converting criminal property, said to be counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco, to fund her “lavish lifestyle”.

Simon Leighton, 42, of Maple Road South, Griffithstown, is also on trial at Newport Crown Court alongside Skinner, charged with one count of becoming concerned in money laundering, said to be the proceeds of selling fake cigarettes and tobacco from his ice cream van. He denies the charge.

John Price, of the Gwent Police financial crime unit, gave evidence in court yesterday relating to Skinner’s bank statements.The statements showed that Skinner, who was receiving both working and child tax credits, had spent thousands of pounds in retail outlets over the four-year period.

Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe told the jury that Skinner would deposit hundreds of pounds in cash each month into her Barclays account, two days before paying off her credit card bill.

On each occasion, Mr Cobbe pointed out, that the amount of money paid into her Barclays account in cash was of a similar amount to the money she then used to pay off her credit card.The jury was were also shown a paying-in slip which showing £1,590 being paid directly to Skinner’s Barclaycard credit card account, by-passing her current account.

Skinner’s husband, Mark, who, the court was told, committed suicide between June 11 and June 15 last year, also wrote cheques to pay off his wife’s credit card bills.

Several admissions, agreed facts between the prosecution and defence, have been made at the trial including details of how much money was spent by Skinner on holidays, cars and clothes. They couple spent £52,560.31 on 21 holidays in four years as well as nearly £60,000 on cars, money the couple had contributed on top of part-exchanging vehicles.

Mr Cobbe previously said that the Skinners had used money raised by selling thousands of fake cigarettes to fund a their “lavish lifestyle”.

Leighton, who was said in court to have known Skinner’s husband through golf, was alleged to have been selling the counterfeit cigarettes from his ice cream van.

Both Skinner’s and Leighton’s homes were searched on February 22, 2013 when £8,000 was found in a BMW parked outside the former’s house and cash was found in a safe in the latter’s home. The prosecution said that Leighton was caught “red-handed” by police, carrying a box of the cigarettes said to be worth £7,000.

Proceeding.