http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/BROKER-S-JAIL-TERM-QUASHED/article-3162298-detail/article.html

A MORTGAGE broker jailed for 22 months has had his money laundering conviction overturned after a prosecution mistake.

Urfan Akhtar served eight months of his sentence after admitting five counts of becoming concerned in a money-laundering arrangement at Stafford Crown Court in April 2008. He also had £96,000 confiscated.

But lawyers later advised Mr Akhtar he had been charged with the wrong offence by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Now he no longer has a criminal record and does not have to pay the £96,000.

He said: "I have no bitterness about what has happened and my religion has taught me to forgive and forget."

Judges at London's Criminal Appeal Court quashed the conviction, saying the wrong statute was used by prosecutors.

In April 2008, Mr Akhtar, aged 35, who ran The Mortgage Shop, Upper Normacot Road, Normacot, was accused of knowingly submitting false mortgage applications, after it was alleged he gave five people false job descriptions or inflated incomes to trick lenders into giving them money.

The five who made the applications were also prosecuted and admitted acquiring criminal property, but their convictions were overturned on appeal – after judges ruled they had been charged incorrectly.

Following their appeals, Mr Akhtar challenged his convictions on the basis he had also been charged with the wrong offence.

It was argued the money obtained through the mortgage applications was not "criminal property" when he agreed to help the applicants get it – therefore he could not be charged under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The judge said the decision did not mean Mr Akhtar could have acted the way he did "with impunity", but he had been prosecuted under the wrong statute.

However, he said the fact he was "likely to have been prosecuted" had he been charged correctly was no reason for not quashing the conviction.

Mr Akhtar, of Lennox Road, Longton, said: "I have learnt from my time spent in prison and it has certainly been a lesson in life.

"Being in prison is the nearest thing there is to death, because you are locked in one room and everything you do it monitored.

"I met all kinds of people in there and it has changed the way I think about things and helped me become a more relaxed and humble person.

"The last four years have been tough with the whole thing being on my head, but I just want to get back to normal now."

It was said in court the prosecution seemed to have conducted the case the way they did in the belief it would be "easier" to secure a conviction for money laundering than any other offence.

It is believed the ruling could have significance for anyone who has ever been prosecuted in similar circumstances.

Don Knapper, district crown prosecutor for CPS Staffordshire said: "This is a detailed judgement which requires time to be carefully considered before we comment any further."