7:30am Wednesday 4th May 2011

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/9005094.Bradford_Moor_money_launderer_spared_jail/

A 30-year-old man who claimed he was threatened at gunpoint to assist in a plot to defraud Bradford & Bingley has been spared an immediate jail sentence.

Sheraz Riaz, of Upper Rushton Road, Bradford Moor, was one of three men sentenced at Bradford Crown Court yesterday for money laundering.

Prosecutor Kirsty Watson said the cases against the men arose out of a conspiracy in 2007 to swindle Mortgage Express, a subsidiary of Bradford & Bingley Plc that specialised in buy-to-let mortgages.

Miss Watson said that at the heart of the plot was a Bradford & Bingley employee called Asif Budhia. She revealed that another man wanted in connection with the scam was on the run.

The court heard that Budhia identified which customer accounts to target and processed fraudulent loan applications. The funds from three such loans were transferred into bank accounts held by the three defendants.

In the dock with Riaz was Asif Sharif, 44, of Clairville Road, Middlesbrough, and Mohammed Mahmood, 32, of Apple Close, Blackburn.

Sharif was convicted after a trial of allowing £144,000 to be cleared through his bank account. His defence of duress was rejected by the jury. Jailing him for 12 months, Judge John Potter said: “You lied in the face of extremely strong evidence.”

Riaz had £160,000 paid into his bank account but less than £4,000 was lost as the rest was recovered when the fraud came to light. He told the police he was taken at gunpoint by conspirators to withdraw money from his account.

Judge Potter made a 12-month suspended sentence order and ordered Riaz to do 100 hours’ unpaid work and comply with a four- month curfew. He told Riaz his guilty plea had saved him from a stretch in jail.

Mahmood, who had £26,000 paid into his account, also pleaded guilty and was given a two-year community order with 150 hours’ unpaid work and a four-month curfew order.

Judge Potter said: “Money laundering nourishes and encourages crime in general.” He said customers from whose accounts money was taken must have suffered distress and inconvenience.