Postmen guilty of £1.3m global scam

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Two postmen have been warned they face jail after being found guilty of taking part in a £1.3m money laundering operation.

Shaker Javaid and Alex Stocks set up bank accounts which were used as a conduit for huge sums conned out of more than 200 victims of internet scams from all around the world.

A judge said it ‘beggars belief’ that the two men, who were working as postmen in Preston, were able to handle so much money.

The pair were caught after overseas students at Exeter University fell victim to a fraud in which they were swindled out of thousands of pounds they paid as deposits for non- existent luxury flats.

Some of the payments were traced back to accounts run by the men from their homes in Preston, and inquiries then found these had been used in many other swindles.

The most serious fraud was against a German woman who was blackmailed into transferring her life savings of £25,000 after hackers convinced her they would kill her family if she refused.

Javaid and Stocks claimed they were victims of the same international conspiracy and thought they were handling genuine payments for online car accessory sales.

The jury at Exeter Crown Court found they had both been involved in the money laundering scam, but cleared Stocks of the more serious charge of conspiracy.

Javaid, 32, of Albert Terrace, Preston, and Stocks, 30, of Birkett Drive, Ribbleton, Preston, denied conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime. Javaid was found guilty and Stocks cleared of conspiracy but convicted of money laundering. Javaid was also found guilty of five related offences of laundering or fraud.

Their sentences were adjourned by Judge Erik Salomonsen, who remanded Javaid in custody and released Stocks on bail.

The judge said: “The Crown’s position is that Javaid was always the leader and Stocks was the bagman so far as the cash was concerned.

“Money laundering is becoming all too common and everyone knows about internet scams. Everyone has received an email apparently from one or two friends who say they have had a terrible accident abroad. In this case there is all the other money which passed through the accounts.

“Javaid is going to receive a long prison sentence and some £200,000 passed through the account controlled by Stocks. It beggars belief but it’s true.

“In granting him bail, I appreciate his criminality is less than Javaid, but he is still likely to receive an immediate sentence.”

During the week-long trial, the jury heard how accounts in the name of Flashclaims and Global Supplies were controlled by the two men and used for the transfer of sums totalling £1.3m from around the world.

The victims included students from China, Greece and Africa, who transferred money electronically in the belief they were securing a tenancy at a luxury flat in the Southernhay shopping centre in Exeter.

The fraudsters tried to hide their identities by using money transfer services including Moneygram and Western Union.

These are normally secure but they conned the victims into sending them copies of the emails, thus enabling them to withdraw the cash.

Javaid claimed he was roped into the scheme by a mystery man called Mohammed, who he met at a technology fair in Norway and told him the money was for car parts.

Stocks said he got involved as a favour to his fellow postman Javaid, and had no idea there was anything dodgy going on. The jury’s verdict means they accepted he was duped but decided he must have known something illegal was going on.

The pair will be sentenced after probation officers in Preston have prepared a pre-sentence report on Stocks.

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Postmen jailed for £1million money laundering scam as Judge praises Exeter cops

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Two postmen have been jailed for laundering more than £1 million stolen in a huge international online fraud and blackmail plot.

Shaker Javaid gave up his job delivering letters to set up a claims handling business which he used as the front for his money laundering operation.

He handled money from internet based frauds carried out all around the world and recruited former workmate Alex Stocks to set up another account so he could launder even more cash.

The pair were trapped by a complex investigation by police in Exeter after a foreign student was tricked out of a £300 deposit for a flat in Southernhay which did not exist.

The financial investigation unit were praised by a Judge for the way in which they expanded that apparently minor inquiry into what turned into a global investigation into frauds totalling around £1.3 million.

Among the victims of the online frauds were students from all over the world who were swindled out of rent deposits for flats in Exeter, Brighton and other top universities.

A German woman was tricked into sending explicit pictures of herself to an online suitor and these were used blackmail her out of £30,000. When she stopped paying the fraudsters threatened to kill her children.

Businessmen in India, Africa and the USA were swindled out of sums as high as £77,000 by advance fee frauds in which they believed they would receive loans, mystery inheritances or £1 million lottery prizes.

One victim was conned out of £7,771 after being asked to use her bank account to transfer cash for a charity.

The accounts run by Javaid’s two Flashclaims companies laundered £983,000 from 172 victims over two years and Stocks’ Global Supplies account handled £219,000 from 56 victims in the space of just four months.

Javaid was found with almost £6,000 cash at his home when he was arrested but Stocks carried on working as a postman in Preston and was only paid around £1,000 for his part in the scam, Exeter Crown Court was told.

His name was on the account but it was controlled by Javaid and its statements were found at his home. Stocks’ role was to take out large amounts of cash and hand them over to Javaid or other contacts in holdalls or Jiffy bags.

Javaid, 32, of Albert Terrace, and Stocks, 30, of Birkett Drive, Ribbleton, both Preston, denied conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime. Javaid was found guilty and Stocks cleared of conspiracy but convicted of money laundering.

Javaid was also found guilty of five related offences of laundering or fraud.

Javaid was jailed for seven years and Stocks for two and a half years by Judge Erik Salomonsen.

He told them:”There was no direct evidence to link you to the frauds but you provided the means by which the proceeds of crime could be laundered.

“The dishonesty was transparent for all to see but I accept you were not alone and it is clear there were others. There was clearly a wider conspiracy.

“Javaid, the jury rejected your wholly improbable excuse that he was supplying paperwork for a car parts business. You knew there were no car parts.

“Stocks, it is accepted you played a lesser role and Javaid took the lead. It is patent to me you were the follower and not the leader and you opened the bank account at his instigation.

“You admitted withdrawing money in Jiffy bags and holdalls and in a very short time you removed £219,000 from the account and handed it to Javaid or others.

“It is said you did not know from the outset it was dishonest. While I accept that, it seems to me you knew very quickly it was dishonest and you wanted what Javaid already had.”

The Judge based the Exeter-based Financial Investigation Unit of the Devon and Cornwall Police. He said:”This case first came to the attention of the police in Exeter and in consequence of a detailed and effective investigation these accounts were traced and the defendants arrested.

“I know the team has worked extremely hard. This was a case which all started from a £300 deposit for a flat above an office in Exeter.”

During the week long trial the jury heard how accounts in the name of Flashclaims and Global Supplies were controlled by the two men and used for the transfer of sums totalling £1.3 million from around the world.

The victims included students from China, Greece and Africa who transferred money electronically in the belief they were securing a tenancy at a luxury flat in Southernhay.

The fraudsters tried to hide their identities by using money transfer services including Moneygram and Western Union. These are normally secure but they conned the victims into sending them copies of the e-mails, thus enabling them to withdraw the cash.

Javaid claimed he was roped into the scheme by a mystery man called Mohammed who he met at a technology fair in Norway and told him the money was for car parts.

Stocks said he got involved as a favour to his fellow postman Javaid and had no idea there was anything dodgy going on. The jury’s verdict means they accepted he was duped but decided he must have known something illegal was going on.

Miss Kathryn Johnson, for Javaid, said his role was towards the bottom of a larger conspiracy and his family will suffer while he is inside because he cares for his infirm mother and two year-old daughter.

Mr Tom Mitchell, for Stocks, said he was at the lowest level and his acquittal for conspiracy meant he had no knowledge of where the money was coming from.

He said his rewards were minimal and amounted to about £1,000 in all, including a few pounds he had taken out of the account so he could go to the cinema on his birthday.

He said he has lost his job as a postman as a result of his conviction and now hopes to work selling fruit and vegetables.