Two men jailed over £17m money laundering operation

Investigators were able to unravel a scam where up to £200,000 in cash a day was being deposited by the group at Post Offices into business bank accounts. 

Officers from the Regional Economic Crime Unit for the West Midlands (part of ROCUWM), working with a range of partners including the Post Office, banks, National Crime Agency, National Economic Crime Centre, and the UK Financial Intelligence Unit, investigated the deposits, made in 2021 and 2022.

Following the money trail, their enquiries led them to uncover a professionally organised group of criminals, and evidence that up to £17m in cash had been laundered in just a year. 

Two suspects were arrested in June 2021 at a Birmingham Post Office.

Nawaz was found inside the Post Office with £15,000 in a carrier bag which he was about to deposit. A further £85,000 was found in a cardboard box in the vehicle he had travelled in.

Nawaz had the bank card to one of the company accounts used to launder the money in his hand and was also holding a mobile phone open on a WhatsApp group chat called “Action” which was found to give details of Post Office locations and amounts that should be paid into each Post Office. 

Enquiries established that Jahan was directing the operation and set up the WhatsApp group and was giving depositing instructions. He was also found to have accessed the bank account online and transferred the money out of the account into another business account.

Once Jahan had been identified as a suspect, in May 2022, officers carried out warrants at two properties linked to him, and he was later arrested at Birmingham Airport on his return from Dubai. 

His phone was found to contain logins for the company bank accounts into which the money deposited was being paid, and also log in details for the account it was transferred on to – companies which investigators believe were set up for the sole purpose of money laundering.

Gul was identified as being a director of one of those companies and the only account holder of a business bank account through which more than £2.5m cash was deposited and transferred on. 

Despite denying any knowledge of money going in and out of this account, investigators were able to prove his involvement. 

Using a variety of tactics, a large amount of illicit cash has been forfeited as a result of this investigation. 

Eight account freezing orders saw a total of £867,000 forfeited, and along the way a new crypto exchange based in London laundering the proceeds of crime was caused to go out of business.

An organisation which provided the group with a banking platform collapsed into administration following our referral to the Financial Conduct Authority.

In addition, £100,000 cash was seized and forfeited when the men were arrested and a further £9,000 cash found in searches of their addresses was also seized and forfeited.

Following a range of complex and detailed enquiries, they were charged with offences related to money laundering in relation to over £3m, and pleaded guilty.

• Shazad Jahan, 45, of Sommerville Road, Bordesley Green was jailed for five years and five months
• Naveed Gul, 47, of Western Avenue, Peterborough, was jailed for four years and three months 
• Sajid Nawaz, 59, of Clopton Road, Kitts Green was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. 
• Another man has been charged as part of the investigation but failed to attend court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. 

Senior Investigating Officer Jonathan Jones said: “These sentences are a result of a lengthy and complex investigation, and they show that we don’t give up. 

“We estimate that a total of around £17m in cash was laundered in just one year – an extraordinary amount of money. 

“The group may have thought they could get away with it, but our investigators stuck to the trail of the money and uncovered a series of businesses set up for the purposes of layering illicit funds. 

“Working with a range of private and public partners, we’ve been able to seize and forfeit around £976,000, as well as securing criminal charges against the individuals, who are now facing the consequences of their actions.”

“I hope this sends a clear message: anyone involved in this kind of scam, or trying to cheat the financial system, will be brought to justice.”

If you have concerns about financial crime or money laundering, or any information you think may be useful to us, you should call us on 101 or report it via Live Chat on our website.