£26 Million Money Laundering Gang Nabbed in Major Bust
A ruthless criminal gang that funneled £26 million of dirty cash to Dubai has been slammed with prison sentences totaling over 26 years.
Masterminds Behind Complex Laundering Scheme
Led by Mohammed Zafer, the gang operated from Buckinghamshire but covered hundreds of miles daily. For nearly a year, they hit up banks up to a dozen times a day to stash criminal proceeds.
Each crook served as director of seven shell companies designed solely to launder money, believed to be tied to massive alcohol duty fraud.
The gang created fake paper trails to clean the cash, using a network of cash couriers to move the money within just 11 months.
Record-Smashing Bank Deposits Before Moving Cash Abroad
- A staggering 2,376 deposits were made across 100 banks.
- This happened over 193 days from July 2015 to June 2016.
- They averaged 12 deposits every single day.
Once the money hit UK banks, it was swiftly whisked away to accounts in Dubai, where Zafer had business links.
Justice Served After High-Profile Reading Crown Court Trial
Following a six-week trial at Reading Crown Court, Zafer, 48, of Slough, and his cousin Shehbaz Iqbal, 41, from Windsor, were convicted of money laundering in December 2023.
Four others—Sarfraz Hussain (Manchester), Anthony Foster and Shakil Abbas (Rochdale), and Zorrabar Singh (Twickenham)—had already pleaded guilty in June 2022.
Matthew Moignard, HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Lead, said: “This operation’s scale shows how money laundering hits public services and communities hard.”
Kevin Hansford from the CPS Serious Economic Organised Crime unit added: “We are committed to prosecuting fraudsters and recovering stolen assets.”
All six crooks were jailed for a combined total of 26 years and seven months on February 21, 2024.
Spot a Suspected Fraud? HMRC Wants to Know
Got info on tax fraud or money laundering? HMRC urges the public to report it via their online portal.
