Gurmeet Handa, aged 52, from Little Aston, Birmingham, has been jailed as part of a complex multi-organisation police investigation into an international money laundering operation.
The investigation into the money laundering operation was launched in 2016 following the seizure of £30,000 in cash from Alum Rock, Birmingham.
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Gurmeet Handa has been jailed after laundering more than £5m in cash
As a result of the substantial seizure, officers from the Regional Economic Crime Unit, alongside teams from the West Midlands Police Regional Organised Crime Unit and HMRC, all joined forces.
The multi-force team uncovered over £5.3million, which had been laundered in cash between 2012 and 2016.
The seizure marked the end of the road for Mr Handa, who led the criminal operation, with the team identifying almost 30 properties which he had purchased, despite declaring little or no income to the HMRC.
The money used to buy the properties was found to be sourced from a large number of bank accounts, including bank accounts outside of the UK.
The 52-year-old was jailed for six years and nine months on Thursday, October 2, after pleading guilty to money laundering.
He was also ordered to pay back £5.8million, including £460,000 to HMRC for unpaid taxes.
As well as jail time and the court charges, Handa will also be forced to sell 28 properties secured by his criminal activity.
Avtar Nijjer was also jailed for his role in the operation
Another man, Avtar Nijjer, aged 73, from Leicester, was also sentenced after being charged with money laundering.
He was found to be working alongside Handa, depositing cash on his behalf over a year-long period.
He was sentenced to serve a year and a half in prison, as well as being ordered to pay back £138,125.
One more man, Iftikhar Hussain, aged 68, from Birmingham, was also charged with laundering and received a 12-month community order sentence for his role in moving £29,400 in cash on a single occasion.
Detective Constable Richard Causier, of the Regional Economic Crime Unit, said: “This was an incredibly vast case that took around two-and-a-half years to investigate before the individuals were charged.
“It included analysing over 100 bank accounts, reviewing large amounts of digital evidence, using Proceeds of Crime Act powers to execute warrants and restrain property and working with expert witnesses.
“I want to thank everyone involved in this investigation. It’s a textbook example of how working in partnership can result in uncovering a sophisticated criminal operation like this, which has not only put criminals behind bars for their actions but also removed the benefit they received from such activity.”