Four Jailed for Total of 21 years
Four men were sentenced to a total of 21 years and two months after they all pleaded guilty for their involvement in laundering millions of pounds of criminal assets abroad.
Abdullah Rahim 34, from Lewisham received six and a half years after pleading guilty to laundering nearly £20.7M of criminal money over an eight month period following an investigation by the City of London Police.
Zaka Din 46, of Norbury; Brian Mcinerney, 53, of Islington and Iftekhan Choudhary, 30, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder criminal funds on or before 27 August 2014.
On 11 September 2014 Choudhary collected £35,000 in cash from Brian Mcinerney in a Renault Scenic vehicle in Belmont Park, Lewisham close to where Rahim lived.
This money was going to be handed over to Rahim so that he could organise for it to be transferred to Dubai. This is when it would be further moved across the globe in an attempt to launder the money.
Choudhary and Mcinerney were arrested with the cash still on them by City of London police officers as part of a proactive operation.
On the same day, Rahim was also arrested at his home address also in Lewisham. A laptop was found inside his home which contained excel spreadsheets documenting the illegal movements of £20.7M between 8 August January 2014 and 10 September 2014.
Rahim owned a business called Joras Express Money Service Bureau in Whitechapel where he transferred the criminal money abroad.
At the shop, officers found 2610 printed transaction slips dated between 28 August and 11 September 2014 each for around £700.
These slips recorded each time a customer visited Joras Express to make a transaction. However officers found that the details were in fact fake.
Din was arrested on 2 September 2014 after officers identified him as responsible for orchestrating illegal cash exchanges from the UK to a destination chosen by a criminal group or individual. He used his travel agents business World Travel Link on London Road, Norbury as a cover for his unlawful dealings.
One of these exchanges took place outside the home address of Rahim and involved Choudhary on 27 August 2014. Choudhary was a trusted courier working for Rahim and along with Mcinerney was involved in the physical exchange of large sums of money within vehicles near the home of Rahim. These exchanges were either facilitated by Din or cash that would have been laundered by Rahim.
The gang were sentenced as follows: – Abdullah Rahim was sentenced to six and a half years. Zaka Din was sentenced to eight years. Brian Mcinerney was sentenced to fourteen months. Iftekhan Choudhary was sentenced to five and a half years.
City of London Police officer Detective Constable Darren Norman said, “This gang was directly responsible for the illegal transfer of £20 million of criminal money abroad. They faked thousands of transaction receipts using two businesses in an attempt to hide their criminal actions. This is criminal money being transferred around the globe in an attempt to make the money look legitimate and hide it from law enforcement agencies worldwide. The sentencing of these men, and the dismantling of their criminal enterprise, is a message to those that support criminal gangs that we will pursue and prosecute you.
Confiscation orders will now take place against Din and Rahim.
