October 08, 2010

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1345127_i_was_used_says_estate_agent_in_250000_money_laundering_trial

Fazal Hussain leaving Manchester Crown Court

An estate agency manager accused of agreeing to launder hundreds of thousands of pounds for an international crime syndicate has protested his innocence.

Fazal Hussain was seen by officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency collecting holdalls stuffed with £250,000 in Cheetham Hill. He then took the bags to nearby Khan Properties, the estate agency and money transfer business where he worked.

CCTV footage seized from the Cheetham Hill Road premises show Mr Hussain entering the property with bags allegedly stuffed with ‘dirty cash’ on a number of occasions.

Mr Hussain denies entering into a money laundering agreement alongside Khan Properties’ owner Nasrullah Khan, and Mr Khan’s son, Hafeez Khan.

It is alleged that the trio were laundering the money at the bidding of a ‘controller’ based in Pakistan or Dubai.

Mr Hussain told court that at the time he thought he was legitimately collecting money that Nasrullah Khan had told him was connected with the business – but that he now realised he had been ‘used’.

Benjamin Myers, defending Nasrullah Khan, asked Mr Hussain if he had ever asked who the people he was receiving the money from were.

He admitted he hadn’t, saying this was his boss’s responsibility and that he had told him ‘the money belongs to the office’. “Now I know they used me”, Mr Hussain said.

Mr Hussain was arrested minutes after collecting the two holdalls on July 15, 2008. He told court that while he was in custody at Pendleton police station

Mr Nasrullah Khan provided him with a lawyer who advised to him say ‘no comment’ in interview. He claimed that an hour after his release, Mr Nasrullah Khan came to visit him at home.

Mr Hussain claimed that Mr Masrullah Khan told him ‘don’t worry, I’ll sort out everything’, and that he believed the matter did not concern him.

Mr Hussain continued to work at Khan Properties following his arrest. Mr Myers said this was a ‘calculated decision’ designed to make him look more innocent. Mr Khan said he wanted to keep his job.

Nasrullah Khan, 51, of Dane Road, Sale; Haseef Ullah Khan, 28, also of Dane Road, Sale, and Fazal Hussain, 46, of Woodlands Street, Cheetham Hill, deny entering into a money laundering agreement between June 26 and July 16 2008.