Two men sentenced over £266 million Bradford-based money laundering operation

Two men have been sentenced over their involvement in a multi-million-pound money laundering operation that was uncovered by a lengthy and painstaking investigation by economic crime specialists at West Yorkshire Police.

Years of complex and detailed analysis by officers from the force’s Economic Crime Unit built up a clear evidential picture that exposed the £266 million plot, in what is believed to be the largest investigation into the laundering of criminal cash in UK legal history.

The investigation, which began in 2016 and centred on activity at Bradford-based scrap jewellery business Fowler Oldfield Ltd, showed couriers from across the country regularly transporting bags full of cash to the premises.

The cash – which was processed at a rate of £1.7m a day at times – was banked by the company and used to buy high purity gold grain, which was then shipped to Dubai under fake shipping invoices.

Enquiries showed that between 2014 and 2016 more than £200 million in criminal cash was laundered in this way through the company’s NatWest bank account. This process gave apparent legitimacy to the criminals’ ill-gotten gains and helped them to avoid the due diligence checks they would have faced had they attempted to bank their ‘dirty money’ or buy gold with it themselves.

The Economic Crime Unit had initially been alerted in 2016 when a security company raised concerns about the huge daily increase in money being collected from the premises by their staff.

The long-established company’s legitimate business normally bought scrap jewellery, including gold, for cash, but it was clear the business model had changed dramatically to processing cash on a large scale.

Investigators carried out surveillance on the premises that showed couriers regularly attending the building in Hall Lane, Bradford, to drop off large bags.

Banking checks showed how the amount of cash coming into the company’s accounts had increased from £11,000 in 2012 to more than £650,000 a year later. By 2015, payments into the company had shot up to £95 million.

In September 2016, officers executed search warrants at Fowler Oldfield’s premises and at two businesses in London, including linked company Pure Nines Ltd, in Hatton Garden. They arrested 16 people and recovered cash and gold to the value of more than £4 million.

Internal CCTV at Fowler Oldfield showed staff processing huge amounts of bank notes, running them through automated counting machines and packing the notes for collection by legitimate cash-in-transit companies.

At Pure Nines premises, officers found evidence that it was being used mainly to count cash rather than for any genuine trade in gold. A holdall stuffed with cash, an automated cash counting machine and bundles of cash in a safe and on the work top were found at the scene. Also in the safe was what appeared to be 147 bars of gold, but closer examination showed only one bar was actually gold and the others were fakes made by gold plating much less valuable silver bars, to give the appearance of the business being a legitimate gold dealer rather than a front for money laundering.

The rigorous investigation by the Economic Crime Unit involved the forensic analysis of invoices, emails and paperwork as well as studying more than 8,000 hours of CCTV footage. It was calculated that more than £266 million was paid into the Fowler Oldfield accounts from January 2014 to September 2016.

Working in close liaison with the Crown Prosecution Service, money laundering charges were brought against a number of defendants.

In March last year, four men were given prison terms after being convicted of money laundering for their parts in the plot following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Fowler Oldfield director Daniel Rawson, 49, of Syke Green, Scarcroft, Leeds, who was the only defendant in court, was sentenced to ten years and ten months in prison.

Fellow company director Gregory Frankel, 48, from Shipley, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in his absence; Haroon Rashid, 56, of Toller Lane, Bradford, was given a 10-year sentence in his absence; and Arjun Babber, 34, of Trevor Place, Westminster, London, was given an 11-year prison term in his absence. The three are believed to have left the country and enquiries are continuing to locate them and secure their extradition back to the UK to serve their sentences.

Most of the money funnelled to Fowler Oldfield by 2016 was shown to have been directed there by a man called Shahid Qadar, who was described in court as an international money launderer based in Dubai.

He had used Pure Nines Ltd which had been set up by Samir Jagirdar, who was owner and director of the company. Evidence showed it was a front for the delivery of cash to Fowler Oldfield and the purchase and export of the ‘clean’ gold.

Jagirdar’s brother-in-law Baqa Haider was also shown to be involved in the operation with both men creating fake shipping invoices and travelling to Dubai to export and deliver the gold.

Following a further trial, which concluded in July this year, Haider was convicted of money laundering, along with Fowler Oldfield staff member Nathan Rivers.

Today, Haider and Rivers were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court.

Haider, 51, of Bob Marley Way, Lambeth, London, was sentenced to six years, and Nathan Rivers, 45, of Rathmell Road, Leeds, was given a 27-month term, suspended for two years with a curfew requirement.

Jagirdar had pleaded guilty to the money laundering offence prior to the trial. He is due to be sentenced at a later date.

Proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act are ongoing against all those convicted.

Ramona Senior, who was head of West Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit at the time and now leads the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “Those convicted of involvement in this criminal enterprise played their part in an operation that was laundering criminal cash on a truly industrial scale.

“Behind every bank note that went through their fingers is the harm that serious and organised crime causes in our communities, whether that be from the supply of controlled drugs and the serious violence that accompanies it, or the cruelty and exploitation of human trafficking and modern slavery.

“Money laundering is not a victimless crime and those who involve themselves in it are helping criminals to prosper from the misery of others.

“This was the largest ever investigation undertaken by West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit.

“It was a hugely challenging and complex investigation which has required an enormous amount of tenacity and skill by our specialist investigators. Their diligence and commitment, alongside our colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service, over a lengthy and protracted investigation and court process has resulted in these convictions and sentences.

“West Yorkshire Police is firmly committed to making sure criminals have nowhere to hide their activities or the money they make from them, and we hope the public will take some reassurance from the successful outcome of this landmark case.”

In December 2021, NatWest was fined £264,772,619.95 following a prosecution brought by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing to comply with money laundering regulations in relation to its failure to properly monitor the banking activities of Fowler Oldfield between 8 November 2012 and 23 June 2016.

Gary Smith, 62, of Waterfront Mews, Apperley Bridge, Bradford, is due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court from 1 February 2027 having been charged under Section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 with an offence of failing to report suspicious activity regarding money laundering while working in the regulated sector.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit are continuing to appeal for any information that could assist in locating the three men convicted and sentenced for money laundering in their absence in this case.

Gregory Frankel, Haroon Rashid and Arjun Babber failed to attend court for their trials and are believed to have left the country. Enquiries to locate them and secure their extradition back to the UK remain ongoing.

Ramona Senior said: “We remain absolutely determined to do everything we can to ensure these men are found and returned to the UK to serve their sentences.

“They will never be forgotten about and the longer they stay at large only delays them starting to serve the sentences rightly imposed on them for this serious and significant crime.

“I would urge anyone who has any information on the current whereabouts of any of the three or who knows about anyone they may be in contact with, no matter how slight or insignificant that information might seem, to contact us immediately.”

Anyone with information should contact West Yorkshire Police Economic Crime Unit quoting Operation Larkshot via 101 or online at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/livechat. Information can be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Article Credit: https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/news-appeals/two-men-sentenced-over-ps266-million-bradford-based-money-laundering-operation