Money launderers lose freedom

Six men have today (Aug 7) been found guilty at Southwark Crown Court and jailed for their part in laundering the proceeds of a multi-million pound bank fraud.

The six were arrested by City of London Police following an investigation into worthless cheques totalling more than £20 million pounds paid into a NatWest branch in St Helens in 2004.

Of the £20 million at the heart of the fraud, the vast majority of the monies either never left NatWest or have subsequently been recovered by City of London Police, NatWest and its overseas agency banks.

The six men were part of a chain of people creating documents and moving the money from the bank through a number of accounts. A large number of documents were created to make it appear that the money was from a business deal for 38,000 mobile phone handsets.

A total of 16 suspects were charged with a variety of offences as a result of the police investigation in to the case.  At an earlier trial in March this year, 5 men were given jail terms for their part in the crime.

The five men were today found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to use false instruments and a sixth man was convicted of money laundering. Earlier this week five of the men were found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

Convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to use false instruments:

• Tahir BUTT, 28, from Wimbledon, London, jailed for 4 years 3 months
• Muhammad Shazli HAMID, 28, from Morden, London, jailed for 4 years 3 months
• Muhammad Ilyas ANWAR, 35, from Glasgow, jailed for 4 years 3 months
  
  Two other men who cannot be named for legal reasons were also jailed.

Convicted of money laundering:

• Syed Zeeshan ALAM, 51, from Manchester, jailed for 2 years

All six men were disqualified from being company directors.Butt, Hamid and Anwar ran companies in Scotland and Fulham, West London, which purported to be legitimate mobile phone businesses but were in fact a front for money laundering. Alam received stolen funds into an account under his control in Pakistan.

City Police officer DC Mick Case, said: "The jail terms handed down today send out a strong message to those considering committing fraud in the UK. City of London Police officers have worked closely with our partnership agencies on this investigation and we have the tools and resources to bring such offenders to justice."

Jonathan Shawcross, Director Group Security and Fraud at NatWest's parent RBS said: "Financial crime does not pay. Our systems for detecting fraudulent activity are more sophisticated than they've ever been and as this case demonstrates the police will pursue those who perpetuate fraud relentlessly. We have been delighted with the way in which working in partnership with City of London Police we have been able to contribute to the evidence which resulted in these verdicts."