Emma Cummings, 30, took part in an international criminal scheme with links to Dubai, Canada, New Zeland and India
Gareth Bale’s bride-to-be was in tears after her best friend was jailed for laundering more than £500,000 to keep up with the millionaire couple’s luxury lifestyle.
Emma Cummings, 30, took part in an international criminal scheme with links to Dubai, Canada, New Zealand and India.
She piled cash into the project and splashed out on exotic holidays, property, and a fleet of luxury cars including a Porsche, Mercedes, Audi and BMW.
Cummings, from Penarth in Cardiff, has been friends with Real Madrid star Bale, 28, and his fiancee Emma Rhys-Jones for years.
She used her ill-gotten gains to emulate their mega-rich life and often went on holiday with them, visiting the couple in plush resort of Marbella.
Cummings was one of the first names on the guest list when Emma gets married to the multi-millionaire footballer later this year.
But Cummings will miss the opulent ceremony at an Italian castle, which will be followed by a private performance by Beyonce, after she was convicted of money laundering at Newport Crown Court.
A source close to Emma and Gareth’s said: ‘They are very pally with Emma Cummings, they’ve known her for years.
‘They were all together on holiday in Marbella a couple of years ago.
Cummings, from Cardiff, has been friends with Real Madrid star Bale, 28, and his fiancee Emma Rhys-Jones for years (left, the couple together and right, Bale in action for Madrid)
‘I think Cummings dreamed of the same riches as Emma but wasn’t lucky enough to meet one of the world’s top footballers.
‘Emma was shocked and in tears when she heard her close friend had been sent to prison.’
Police and the Inland Revenue began monitoring Cummings and boyfriend Ebrahim Ege, 33, as part of Operation Dogstar.
Cummings, was jailed for 18 months, her former boyfriend Ege, of Cardiff, was sentenced to four years.
Cummings’s former boyfriend Ege, of Cardiff, was sentenced to four years for his role in the money laundering scheme
Lee Jones, who led the South Wales Police investigation, said: ‘Cash from unknown sources was used to purchase high value prestige vehicles and a number of properties.
‘The conspirators lived an extravagant lifestyle with regular trips to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other long haul destinations often staying at five star resorts.
‘Emma Cummings used her bank accounts to launder funds and her name was used to register vehicles or property.’
It is another blow for mother-of-two Emma, 26, whose family and friends have been involved in a string of crimes over the last five years.
Her father Martin Rhys-Jones, 53, was jailed for six years after being convicted of an international fraud in the US.
Emma’s elderly grandparents were taken into protective police custody after getting caught up in a drugs vendetta over a missing suitcase containing more than £750,000.
Police later investigated an attempted blackmail against Gareth and Emma involving their four-year-old daughter Alba.
The couple employ ex-SAS soldiers to guard them at their homes in Madrid and the Vale of Glamorgan.