Crypto gang convicted of laundering drug cash hidden in shop ceiling, Digi Mart USA News (Glasgow, Scotland): A cryptocurrency gang has been found guilty of a large-scale money laundering operation linked to a convicted drug trafficker.
The six-member group was found to have laundered cash for Gary Morris, a Scottish drugs boss previously jailed for trafficking millions of pounds of cocaine. Some of the seized funds included a large amount of banknotes stuffed into a padlock bag and a Snickers box hidden in the ceiling space of a shop linked to two of the men.
Aftab Allah, 36, Shehbaz Allah, 40, Hamzah Habib, 38, Kamran Javid, 33, Asim Afzal, 34, and Imad Younis, 37, were convicted under the Proceeds of Crime Act following a lengthy trial at the High Court in Glasgow. Prosecutors said the group acted together and with others in a scheme they suspected or knew involved criminal property.
The charge stated that the men received, deposited, transferred, exchanged and organized the transmission of cryptocurrency and cash by placing it into bank accounts and digital cash wallets on behalf of others. The original indictment referred to “over £6million,” but this was later amended to “a sum of money.”
During the trial, Shehbaz Allah told jurors that Morris was a “family friend” he believed was involved in the building trade and had an interest in cars. He said the two had once or twice tried to go into business together, including renting out an expensive Audi RS6 and planning to buy a caravan at a holiday park.
Allah said he did not know the man was involved in high-level criminality.
Jurors were shown footage of officers searching the Day to Day shop in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, where Allah and other relatives worked. Tens of thousands of pounds were found hidden in a Nike bag in the ceiling space.
Allah told the court that some of the cash was his from legal cryptocurrency trading and that the majority belonged to the drug dealer, who he said had asked him to keep it because his business bank account had been frozen.
Allah also said a photo of £300,000 in cash taken by one of the gang showed money from buying and selling Bitcoin, and that some of the funds went toward building an extension on his house. Prosecutor Erin Campbell suggested he had been instrumental in opening different accounts to shift and hide the dirty cash, and that he had a network of people he could deal in cryptocurrency with, which she said could benefit a drug dealer seeking distance from the source of the money.
Campbell also said that placing expensive cars in Allah’s name could make them harder for authorities to seize if the trafficker was caught. She told the court that Allah and his brother were administrators for the man’s money and were responsible for hiding assets for some time, effectively acting as his personal assistants, including arranging and paying for flights and hotels.
Lady Poole, the presiding judge, told the men that money laundering enables those responsible for crime to conceal and transfer criminal proceeds, allowing criminal enterprises to remain operational, reinvest profits and expand. She remanded the men in custody and revoked their bail.
Each faces a maximum sentence of 14 years when sentenced next month in Edinburgh.
The group also faces a separate confiscation hearing, likely next year, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and prosecutors have moved for the first three men to be subject to Serious Crime Prevention Orders. Detective Sergeant Lesley Buchanan-Barlas of Police Scotland said targeting those who handle illicitly sourced funds remains a priority for the force.
