Oldhamer’s role in £180m drugs cash
Date published: 17 April 2014
AN Oldham man is among three facing prison for their role in laundering more than £180 million for drug traffickers.
The trio was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court for its involvement in a criminal network that channelled the bulk of the money through an inconspicuous store in Cheadle.
Aqeel Yousaf (28), of Laburnum Road, Chadderton, Ali Usman (32), from Heywood, and Naiz Ali (23), from Rochdale, were convicted over a scheme that allowed drug bosses to access their illegal cash from anywhere in the world.
It brings the total convicted for involvement to 32.
They laundered the money by hacking into the bank accounts of unsuspecting people — often foreign students expecting money from abroad — to free “clean” money for use by criminals.
The cash was often taken for bagging at houses in Birmingham and Leicester.
Sentences totalling more than 140 years have already been handed down to others.
Yousaf, Usman and Ali will be sentenced later.
Most Viewed News Stories
- 1Police engage with growing numbers of rough sleepers camped outside Town Hall
- 2No trams to run between Oldham and Rochdale on Sunday
- 3HSBC bank branch in Oldham temporarily closes for a month
- 4New football pitch and cricket nets to be built inside glass makers factory
- 5Two Oldham students study at both Oxford AND Cambridge