While the UK authorities are accepting hundreds of millions of dirty cash from corrupt individuals, terrorists, jihadists and even terror-funders and members of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, with arms widely open, now its court is trying to discipline an individual for vacuum packed wads of dirty cash from London to Dubai, which is seen by the British media as “one of Britain’s biggest money laundering conspiracies to date”.
According to information from the National Crime Agency, a UK court sentenced the ringleader of a criminal network to nine years in prison for smuggling vacuum packed wads of dirty cash from UK to Dubai, in what was “one of Britain’s biggest money laundering conspiracies to date”.
Abdullah Mohammed Ali Bin Beyat Alfalasi fixed flights for a network of couriers who smuggled 104 million pounds (US$126,6 million), collected from criminal groups across the United Kingdom and believed to be drug proceeds, out of the UK and into Dubai between November 2019 and October 2020, according to the National Crime Agency.
“This money laundering network smuggled astronomical sums of money out of the UK, and is one of the largest we’ve ever investigated”, said NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby, who added that this sort of cash was the lifeblood of organized crime groups.
The 47-year-old ringleader was arrested last December by NCA officers while at a flat in Belgravia – an affluent London neighborhood known for its empty luxury residences, owned by wealthy foreigners.
Under Alfasi’s instructions, the couriers would pack hundreds of thousands of vacuum sealed bills into suitcases weighing around 40 kilos – each luggage stuffed with over US$600,000. They would then spray the luggage with coffee or air fresheners to fool the cash-sensitive noses of Border Force detention dogs.
Depending on how much cash they smuggled, couriers could be paid almost up to US$10,000 per trip.
The ring of couriers is believed to have taken a 10 percent commission of the money they laundered overall, turning an income of almost US$15 million from the venture.
Four of these couriers have been convicted as part of the NCA’s operation since 2020 with two already jailed, supported by Border Force and the Dubai Police. Others remain under investigation.
“These convictions are the result of hard work and dedication from Border Force and the NCA to tackle dirty money that funds corruption and destroys lives”, said Christina Brown, Director of Border Force National Operational HQ.
While the National Crime Agency arrested an individual for smuggling dirty cash from London to Dubai, it has never initiated any investigation into the case of an INTERPOL-wanted convicted terror funder who has smuggled-in millions of dollars into the United Kingdom from Bangladesh and Dubai (the United Arab Emirates).
Since 2009, Shahid Uddin Khan’s family has been living in the United Kingdom. Shahid Uddin Khan (Army No: BA002428, Course: 8-BMA, Commission Date: 10-06-1983) and his wife and daughters entered Britain with millions of dirty cash.
According to credible sources, in 2009, Shahid Uddin Khan invested millions of pounds in the United Kingdom in exchange for obtaining immigrant status under Visa Tier 1, vide VAF No. 511702. The family had laundered an unknown amount of money and brought that into the United Kingdom via the United Arab Emirates and a few more countries, while Shahid Uddin Khan had invested over 18 million pounds for buying citizenship under Britain’s scandalous ‘Golden Visa’ scheme.
According to immigration records, Shahid Uddin Khan and his family members regularly visit the United Arab Emirates. British intelligence agencies never wanted to know the reason behind this family’s visit to the UAE.
Media reports said, four months before the Sri Lanka attacks, ISIS funder Shahid Uddin Khan had sent an amount equivalent to ninety-two thousand dollars. This amount went from Dubai to Colombo. In other words, Khans funded the Sri Lanka jihadists – on behalf of ISIS.
According to information, Shahid Uddin Khan, his wife and three daughters own properties worth hundreds of millions of takas in the United Kingdom and Bangladesh. Here is only description of only a portion of properties owned by the terror-funder family:
- A posh apartment at flat # 2, house # 184, road # 2, Baridhara DOHS, Dhaka, Bangladesh,
- A 5,000 square-feet apartment at flat # C2 and C3, house # 2, road # 4, Banani DOHS, Dhaka, Bangladesh,
- A 9,000 square-feet apartment at Polaris, ABC-3, Second floor, House # 1, Adamjee Cantonment, developed by Shanta Properties, Dhaka, Bangladesh (this huge apartment is purchased in the name of Shahid Uddin Khan’s wife Farzana Anjum Khan),
- An apartment at flat # C5, house # 20, road # 4, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh (this apartment is purchased in the name of Shahid Uddin Khan’s wife Farzana Anjum Khan),
- An apartment at flat # B5, house # 10, road # 10, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh,
- A luxury villa at 239 West Barnes Lane, New Malden KT3 6JD, United Kingdom (this property is purchased in the name of Shahid Uddin Khan with £1,250000). The land has the benefit of the rights granted by but is subject to the rights reserved by a Conveyance dated 24 October 1927 made between Charles Cunningham and Vera Kahn,
- An expensive property at 57 Coombe Lane, West Wimbledon, London SW20 0BD. This property is purchased in the name of Farzana Anjum Khan, Shehtaz Munasi Khan and Parisa Pinaz Khan with £750,000).
In addition to these properties in Bangladesh and the United Kingdom, Shahid Uddin Khan and his family members have made huge investment in a number of business enterprises such as:
Uttara Apparels Limited, Company number 08132788, SIC codes 46420 (Private company limited by shares), located at 57 Coombe Lane, London SW20 0BD, the United Kingdom, where Shahid Uddin Khan holds 65 percent and his wife Farjana Anjum Khan holds 35 shares,
A company named Zumana Investment & Holdings Limited [also named a Zumana Investment & Properties Limited], Incorporation certificate number 0741417, dated October 25, 2010. The registered office of this company is located at Unit 29 Eleanor Street, London, E3 4UR, United Kingdom,
A company named Astha Now Limited, company number 11995656 situated at 239 West Barnes Lane, New Malden, England, KT3 6JD is owned by Farjana Anjum Khan, Shahid Uddin Khan, Parisa Pinaz Khan, Shehtaz Munasi Khan and Zumana Fiza Khan.
They also had established a readymade garments factory in Bangladesh namely Shujon Apparels Limited, which was involved in smuggling of narcotics from Bangladesh to the United Kingdom under the disguise of apparel consignments. It is anticipated that the key reason behind establishment of Uttara Apparels Limited in Britain is also to continue drug trafficking within the European countries. It may be mentioned here that, Shahid Uddin Khan is linked to terror don Dawood Ibrahim.
