Bradford fugitive, who fled before he was convicted of money laundering, has been ordered to hand over £21,000 found in a car he was driving following an illegal transaction of money.
Mohammed Khalid, 32, of Harrogate Terrace, Undercliffe, went on the run during his trial in February last year.
He was found guilty of two offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act and jailed for three years in his absence last month. One offence involved him being found in possession of £100,000 of criminal cash.
The second offence, which took place in January 2007, involved him being handed nearly £22,000 by a co-defendant, at a supermarket car park in Rooley Lane, Bradford. The transaction was monitored by covert police officers and the cash was found when Khalid’s vehicle was stopped a short time later.
The court was told Khalid, who had no previous convictions, had been working as a money launderer in the role of a collector for a foreign crime boss.
An international manhunt is under way for him.
This week, magistrates granted a civil application for the forfeiture of £21,400 to the courts, under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The JPs agreed that, on the balance of probability, the money was intended to be used for unlawful conduct. A warrant has been issued for Khalid’s arrest.
Acting Detective Inspector Paul Greenwood, of West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said the Proceeds of Crime Act was making it harder for organised criminals to benefit from crime and harm communities.
He said: “Khalid couldn’t explain why he was involved in a transaction of such a large sum of cash, and provided differing accounts.
“This was a complex investigation, and we liaised with agencies in the UK and Pakistan to uncover the truth.”
