Man deposited £24,000 of dirty cash in UAE-linked businesses

A man who put £24,000 of dirty cash into the bank accounts of two businesses linked to the UAE has been ordered to do 160 of unpaid work.

Haroon Ahmed, 42, made the deposits at Bank of Scotland branches in Glasgow in October 2018.

Ahmed was spotted carrying out the transactions using bundles of cash from carrier bags and his tracksuit pocket.

Ahmed pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to an offence against the Proceeds of Crime act.

The court heard that in 2017 police became aware of money being deposited into the bank accounts of businesses by people who had no prior involvement with them.

The funds for these accounts ultimately ended up in bank accounts in the UAE.

An investigation into the businesses and the people affiliated with them took place.

It was found that Ahmed was part of a wider scheme formed by an organised crime group.

Ahmed’s role was as a “conduit” for money to businesses named Day to Day Price Cutters and JS Discounts.

Ahmed was found to be the owner of Day to Day Price Cutters but had no link to JS Discounts.

Day to Day Price Cutters was a legitimate business which traded between January 4, 2016 and October 11, 2018.

The latter day is when the cash deposits and transfers began.

The bank account belonging to JS Discounts was created on October 15, 2018.

Records show that there was no legitimate business trading and the named signatory of the account was on benefits at the time the account was opened.

The court heard that Ahmed made three separate cash deposits over five days in October 2018.

Prosecutor Charlotte Allan said: “Ahmed was captured on CCTV attending a Bank of Scotland branch in Clarkston in possession of a white carrier bag, attending the cashier counter, emptying cash out the bag and depositing £9,200 into the bank account of JS Discounts.”

Ahmed went on to do a similar transaction two days later with £6,240 from another carrier bag being transferred into the Day to Day Price Cutters account.

In a further transaction on October 19, Ahmed took a bundle of cash worth £8,600 from his tracksuit pocket which he put into the JS Discounts account.

An investigation into Ahmed’s bank accounts showed he was receiving no income from Day to Day Price Cutters nor was he in receipt of any benefits.

Ahmed also did not make any national insurance contributions between 2016 and 2019.

Ms Allan added: “This left the police unable to trace the sums of money being deposited back to a legitimate source.

“It is from this that the irresistible inference can be drawn that the monies deposited were criminal property.”

Ahmed, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, later gave police a “no comment” interview when he was arrested.

John Scullion KC, defending, told the court: “He was preyed upon at a time when he was in financial trouble.

“He was offered a small sum of money to make deposits.

“Given the sums which were deposited, this had arisen suspicion that the money had come from criminal property.

“He is in full-time employment and has not been in further trouble since this offence.”