A ‘hard up’ taxi driver who moved £2 million in criminal cash faces a lengthy sentence.
Romiz Ahmed, 38, said he was struggling financially during the Covid lockdown. He was stopped by police carrying out undercover surveillance in Rochdale, and was found with almost £250,000 stashed in two bags for life in his taxi.
Ahmed had been involved in a handover of cash as part of a complicated money laundering scheme.
The alleged boss of the racket was exposed in a law enforcement hack of the highly encrypted EncroChat network, known as ‘WhatsApp for criminals’. Police have identified their username on the network, but do not know their true identity.
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During the trial, prosecutor Richard Wright QC said: “Romiz Ahmed and those that he worked for was the criminal equivalent of the Western Union.
“Over the course of about two months, the defendant Romiz Ahmed collected and transported the best part of £2 million in drugs money.”
Jurors at Manchester Crown Court were told that Ahmed had ‘fallen on hard times as a taxi driver due to the pandemic’, and began to drive for a businessman he knew.
He claimed he was ‘completely unaware’ of what he was transferring. About £100,000 in cash was found at his home, which he claimed was his legitimate savings.
Prosecutors told how the alleged money laundering scheme’s boss chatted with an alleged criminal said to be involved in the distribution of ‘massive’ quantities of cocaine worth ‘millions of pounds’ on EncroChat.
The alleged drug dealer had a courier who would then meet up with Mr Ahmed where cash would be handed over, Mr Wright said.
Ahmed would count the cash in a safe place, often his home, then move it elsewhere. After some meet ups, he drove to London.
By May 2020, police had begun monitoring some of the drop offs. On May 21, police struck after a meeting which involved almost £250,000 being handed over.
Mr Ahmed, of Rossall Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of being concerned in an arrangement which facilitated the acquisition, retention, use of control of criminal property by others. He is due to be sentenced in May.
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