WIREDGOV

An international money-launderer who based himself in a five star hotel in central London to carry out his deals has been sentenced to more than six years in prison. 

Rajnesh Sharma, 46, an Indian national based in Hamburg, Germany, used multiple mobile devices including smartphones and iPads to launder criminal profits in at least 29 countries around the world.

The cash from his deals has been linked to the sale of drugs and firearms.

He came to London in March 2014 and set himself up at a luxury hotel in Knightsbridge. He continued with his money laundering deals – often worth hundreds of thousands of pounds – from the comfort of his suite and while out sightseeing around London, including a trip to the London Eye.

Officers from the National Crime Agency began investigating Sharma following a lead from police in Germany in January 2014. Sharma arrived in the UK in early March and initially stayed with relatives in Birmingham.

He moved on from Birmingham to London, where NCA officers observed him conducting money laundering deals using a variety of mobile devices.

He was due to fly out of the UK on 18 March but NCA officers moved in as he was leaving for the airport. The officers caught him with a mobile phone in each hand, as well as two other phones, 14 additional sim cards and written records of his criminal money transfers, including detailed accounts of trades in numerous currencies around the world.

On 15 August at Birmingham Crown Court, Sharma pleaded guilty to laundering at least £10m. On Thursday 15 January he was sentenced to six years and two months in jail.

His brother-in-law, Amit Sharma, 35, of Hockley in Birmingham was also sentenced on Thursday 15 January after the NCA investigation revealed that he had assisted Rajnesh. He was jailed for three and a half years.

A third man, cash courier Jatinder Singh, 22, from Smethwick, West Midlands, was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

Brian Hickman, from the National Crime Agency, said: “Sharma came to the UK and employed couriers to deliver vast amounts of criminal cash from around the country, one of whom was his own brother-in-law.

“This was a complex international and national investigation which started to come together when a number of Sharma’s couriers were arrested by different police forces. There are numerous other lines of enquiry that have fallen out of this investigation which continue to be scrutinised by law enforcement agencies.

“Nearly all organised crime is motivated by profit, much of it cash based, therefore money laundering is the common denominator. Intercepting a major international player like Sharma will be a huge blow to criminal gangs across the globe."

The NCA’s investigation was assisted by West Midlands Police, City of London Police, Derbyshire Constabulary, Durham Constabulary, and the Kent and North West Regional Crime Units.