![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/2238\/live\/e7538950-7dcb-11f0-88a2-b9725373e32e.jpg.webp\")
Tim Bugler<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA former Hibs and Hearts footballer is facing jail after being caught by police with \u00a3400,000 of laundered money.<\/p>\n James Keatings, 33, was seen transferring boxes of cash from a van in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, in June last year after a tip-off from the National Crime Agency (NCA).<\/p>\n Keatings, who was on Hibs’ 2016 Scottish Cup-winning side, admitted possessing and transferring criminal property at Falkirk Sheriff Court.<\/p>\n The ex-striker came through the Celtic academy and has played for Dundee United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hamilton Academical and other Scottish clubs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sheriff Maryam Labaki said he had committed an “insidious crime” that “crossed the custody threshold”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The court heard how Keatings had parked his white transit van alongside a Mercedes van on Young Street in Wishaw.<\/p>\n Police and officers from the NCA saw him remove “two weighty boxes from his van and put them in the rear of the Mercedes”.<\/p>\n A later searched of the Mercedes and found two boxes containing 78 bundles of notes totalling \u00a3390,040.<\/p>\n A quantity of elastic bands, which had Keatings DNA on them, were also discovered in the boxes.<\/p>\n The court heard that Keatings’ finger and palm prints were found in various locations on the boxes and bank notes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Solicitor Brien Grieg, defending, said Keatings was a first offender, a father, and “a working man”.<\/p>\n He told police at the time of his arrest he was working as a plasterer.<\/p>\n Sheriff Labaki deferred sentence until 19 September for background reports, but continued Keatings’ bail in the meantime.<\/p>\n She said: “This is a very significant sum, and it’s an insidious crime in many ways.<\/p>\n “You must prepare yourself for every eventuality. You have crossed the custody threshold.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n