A MAN who laundered nearly £1m in drugs money has been jailed.
Detectives caught Muhammad Amjad Hussain, from Pakistan, red-handed on the way to a bank with a hold-all containing £4,000 of drugs money.
A raid on the flat he was renting in Longsight, Manchester, uncovered a suitcase with a further £110,000 in cash and bank paying-in slips for deposits totalling £744,170.
Hussain, 43, claimed he was a simple family man from a rural area near Lahore, who - used to rupees and dealing in cash - thought nothing of the vast sums he was depositing in bank accounts.
The father of three said his fee for making the deposits was £435.
Forensic analysis of the seized cash showed it had been in contact with a 'significant amount of cannabis'.
He was jailed for three years and eight months at Manchester Crown Court after admitting money laundering.
Nigel James, prosecuting, said Hussain travelled to Britain in June.
Officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency watched Hussain go from his flat in Meller Street, Longsight, to a Barclays branch in Levenshulme and pay in some cash.
Accounts
He later left the flat again carrying a black hold-all, in which detectives found two mobile phones and about £4,000 in cash.
Officers then searched his flat and found about £110,000, as well as six mobile phones, a fax machine, banking papers and lots of bank paying-in slips.
The paying-in-slips involved deposits of £744,170, paid into about 200 different accounts.
The cash had been in contact with a 'significant quantity of cannabis', said Mr James.
Hussain told police he travelled to Britain to deal in scrap metal and before his trip, he was approached by a man said to run a bureau de change in Pakistan to deposit the cash in Britain.
He said another man dropped a bagful of cash at his flat to deposit in accounts.
Mr James said the cash was 'no doubt the proceeds of the sale of drugs'.
Nicholas Rimmer, defending, said Hussain was 'not a sophisticated man' from an agricultural area in Pakistan 'where it's not unusual to deal with large amounts of cash'.
He will be deported to Pakistan after serving his sentence.
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Mykiel, Madison Connecticut CT 06443 USA (13/11/2008 at 08:38)
These Criminals should be deported back from whence they come and not placed in the "Cushy" open prisons, where he can enjoy playing sports, watching TV and possibly still carrying out their Illegal activities.
DRUGS are the Scourge of every civilized country and should not be tolerated.
Hamish Macbeth, Whitefield (14/11/2008 at 12:05)
I am not a simple agricultural worker but a professional. I do not have £120k in a suitcase in my loft nor do I walk around with £4k in a bag. In all my life I have not seen anywhere near £700k.
Perhaps Hussains Solicitor could advise me of where I get one of these "simple agricultural worker" jobs from - the industry seems awash with cash. I would then not struggle paying my bills, council tax, income tax, fuel bills, heating bills and the like
Esso Blue, Manchester (14/11/2008 at 15:02)
Esso Blue, Manchester (14/11/2008 at 17:40)
uncle bulgaria, Wimbledon Common (14/11/2008 at 21:10)
If he was a simple agricultural worker in Pakistan, he would more than likely be extremely poor, possibly in bonded labour....and certainly not affording to get access to the UK, nevermind be trusted with huge amounts of money.
Average wage in pakistan is £5 a week and a return flight from Lahore to Manchester is £450.