Leicestershire Police Smash £420k Money Laundering Scam
Leicestershire Police launched a probe back in 2009 after spotting suspicious transfers through a money service called ‘Route of Asia’. The owner, Salim Miah, was suspected of running a major money laundering racket, funneling cash out of the UK.
£420k Mortgage Fraud Linked to Route of Asia
Officers traced nearly £420,000 from a mortgage fraud into Miah’s Route of Asia account. In 2009, Miah splashed out almost £300,000 of that dirty money on the Warwick Arms restaurant in Loughborough. He sold the eatery five years later, using the sale cash to snap up four more properties.
Together, those properties were valued at a whopping £1.08 million. The National Crime Agency (NCA) moved in with a civil recovery claim in 2019, targeting the assets. Around £650,000 of that property value is suspected to come straight from mortgage fraud.
Money Service Business Shut Down by Regulators
The Financial Services Authority (now the FCA) refused official approval to Route of Asia in 2013. The business was forced to shut down soon after.
NCA Recovers Half a Million in Civil Settlement
On 4 March 2022, Salim Miah, his wife Milan Begum, and business partner Joshim Uddin — who jointly owned some of the properties — agreed to a civil recovery order worth £500,000. This included a residential rental property, a piece of land, and a £32,500 cash payment.
Andy Lewis, Head of Civil Recovery at the NCA, said: “Money laundering is a key enabler of organised crime. Money Service Businesses can be exploited to ‘clean’ criminal cash. The NCA uses civil recovery orders to strip criminals of their illicit wealth. These assets will be sold, with the proceeds helping to combat further crime.”
Rachael Herbert, Head of Threat Response for Money Laundering at the National Economic Crime Centre, added: “The NECC targets the wealth generated by organised crime using both criminal and civil powers. This case highlights the power of civil tools that don’t rely on a conviction to deny criminals their illicit gains.”
