Drew was into Money Laundering

EXCLUSIVE MISSING ACCOUNTANT: NEW EVIDENCE FROM ONE OF HIS CLOSEST ASSOCIATES
By Norman Silvester

A FRIEND of missing accountant Andrew Ramsay has broken her silence to reveal he was caught up in the murky world of money laundering.

Sandy Kelley, who owns a guest house in Belgium with her husband George, 65, says Ramsay tried to set up a bogus company in a complex deal involving Chinese and Russian financiers.

The Sunday Mail can reveal that Andrew spoke to the Kelleys three weeks before he vanished to arrange a trip to Belgium with his partner Beverley Sinclair.

Ramsay, 53, has not been seen since he was arrested by two bogus police officers outside his home in Cardonald, Glasgow, in February.

Sandy, who lives in the Belgian town of Borgloon, was quizzed by Strath-clyde Police on a trip home to see relatives in her home town of Welling-borough, near Northampton.

Sandy, 63, and George, both hope Andrew faked his disappearance... but admit they fear the worst.

Ramsay was employed by Glasgow-based mobile phone firm Diginett between July 2004 and April 2005 and worked for them across Europe.

The firm's 40-year-old owner, If takar Iqbal, was arrested in his home in Pollokshields, Glasgow, by Customs officers as part of a £500million VAT fraud probe. He was later released.

A month before his disappearance Andrew was quizzed by Customs officers about his work and told he might be a witness in a future trial.

Sandy said: "Like everyone else we are desperate that this is resolved one way or another. We need to know if he is alive or dead.

"We spoke to him three weeks before he disappeared and he was looking forward to seeing us in March and introducing us to Beverley.

"I am sure that if he was alive he would have got in touch by now."

They couple got to know Andrew through internet chatrooms and first met him in the summer of 2004 when he came to Belgium to work.

Sandy said: "Andrew made out that he was an important guy and said he had property in Dubai and Spain.

"When we asked him what he did for a living, he said it was political.

"For example, if Russia wanted to sell steel to China but China didn't want to buy it from Russia, he would set up a company in Belgium to enable Russia to sell the steel to China without China knowing.

"Once he came over with another Scot, who he said was a millionaire, to buy an off-the-shelf company.

"I now believe they were setting up the company for money laundering.

"Andrew liked to give the impression he was into something really big.

"He was never specific about what he was doing, though he mentioned mobile phones a lot.

"He would often fly off at a moment's notice to places like Barcelona and Italy to carry out deals with this other man.

"I think he also went to Eastern Europe

"That is why he made us think he was money laundering.

"When he came to Belgium he set up a bank account here and asked how long it would take to transfer money from Britain. He was told about three days but Andrew and this other man wanted to do it in 24 hours. I think he wanted to transfer as much money as quickly as possible."

Shortly after he arrived in Belgium, the Kelleys introduced Andrew to former model Marijke Vannut, 48.

She left her husband for the Scot and the pair became lovers.

Sandy said: "Andrew could lose abduction but police have still since his disappearance police his temper and was worse when he had a drink. He was a bit of a control freak.

"On one occasion he went round to Marijke's home and threatened to kill her husband. Police were called out and it was not pleasant."

The case is officially one of abduction but police have still not ruled out the possibility that Andrew faked his kidnap.

In the weeks before he vanished he told friends he feared for his life as he knew too much.

He contacted ex-lover Marijke and told her he was going abroad and would not be in touch for while.

In the 10 months since his disappearance police have hit a brick wall in their search for Andrew.

Two TV appeals on Crime-watch did not provide any new leads and a £5000 reward failed to attract a single call.

Yesterday, the man investigating Andrew's disappearance, Det Supt William Prendergast, said: "Someone out there knows the answers and we will get to the bottom of this."

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