National Crime Agency
 Printable version
|
Pay up now or face more time in jail, money laundering boss told
A man who played a key role in an organised crime group responsible for laundering millions in criminal cash has been told he will face an extra six years in jail if he doesn't hand over assets worth £1.12 million within the next six months.
Shafiq Ahmed, 53, of Leigham Court Road, Streatham, would still have to pay back the money on top of serving the extra sentence.
He was jailed for 8 years in June 2013 after being found guilty of running a criminal network from a money transfer business based in Tooting, south London.
His trial at Blackfriars Crown Court heard how the business laundered in excess of £5 million, the majority of which was the proceeds of drug trafficking deals.
Ahmed would arrange for this to be paid into UK bank accounts and then immediately wired to Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Far East. He used falsified business records and forged documents in an attempt to cover his tracks.
At a hearing at the same court on Thursday 23 October Ahmed was given six months to hand over the sum of £1.12 million, which National Crime Agency financial investigators were able to identify as profits he had made from the enterprise.
£300,000 cash seized during the investigation into Ahmed’s network had previously been forfeited at a separate hearing – with around £80,000 of that found at Ahmed’s business premises.
National Crime Agency Branch Commander Oliver Higgins said:
“Our investigations do not end when a criminal is put in jail.
“Money is at the heart of all organised crime and is the motivation for most criminals, so we are determined to take their profits off them.
“The clock is ticking for Mr Ahmed to hand over the money he made from this enterprise. The price of not paying up in the next six months is another six years.”
Four other men were convicted alongside Ahmed and sentenced to a combined 12 years and 10 months in prison.
Anyone with any information about assets which they believe Ahmed acquired as a result of his crime should report it to the investigation team via the NCA Control Centre on 0370 496 7622, or anonymously via Crimestoppers .
