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Six jailed after laundering £15m Six jailed after laundering £15m
(40 minutes later)
Six businessmen have been jailed for laundering more than £15m stolen from NatWest bank.Six businessmen have been jailed for laundering more than £15m stolen from NatWest bank.
The men, from London, Birmingham and Glasgow, used IT and mobile phone companies and fake business deals to move the money to an account in Latvia.The men, from London, Birmingham and Glasgow, used IT and mobile phone companies and fake business deals to move the money to an account in Latvia.
The money had been obtained by fraudsters able to withdraw money from NatWest against worthless cheques before they bounced.The money had been obtained by fraudsters able to withdraw money from NatWest against worthless cheques before they bounced.
The men were jailed for between two years and four years, three months.The men were jailed for between two years and four years, three months.
Tahir Butt, 28, and Mohammad Hamid, 28, both of London, were each jailed for four years, three months. The men convicted of conspiring to launder the money between 1 January and 31 July 2004 included Tahir Butt and Mohammad Hamid, both 28 and from London, who were each jailed for four years, three months.
Ilyas Anwar, 35, of Glasgow, was given a similar sentence, while Syed Alam, 51, also of Glasgow, received two years. Ilyas Anwar, 35, of Glasgow, received the same term, while Syed Alam, 51, also of Glasgow, was jailed for two years.
Two Birmingham men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were jailed for jailed for four years, three months, and two years, nine months. Two Birmingham men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were jailed for four years, three months, and two years, nine months.
Butt, Hamid and Anwar were also found guilty of plotting to produce false instruments - making fake documents to make the fraud look legitimate.
Fake deals apparently involving 38,000 mobile phones were used to launder the stolen money.
'Flaw in the system'
Judge Anthony Pitts told the defendants: "All of you were regarded as trusted persons, each of you had experience in mobile phones trading, with the ability to quickly construct the necessary paperwork to give the impression of back to back trading."
The judge added that the men, motivated by "greed", had carried out their roles "professionally and skilfully" and "moving like well-oiled machinery".
The fraud took place in the wake of NatWest's 2002 takeover by Royal Bank of Scotland, after NatWest warned customers by letter that cheques shown as cleared after three days could still bounce.
Prosecutors said that the letter alerted "dishonest customers to what you may think was something that was being flagged up as a potential flaw in the system".
"It was probably this letter to one or more of the fraudsters that alerted them to the potential that existed to fleece the bank."
The money was defrauded from NatWest after six worthless cheques drawn on a closed account were paid into the bank.
Three days later, £15,255,025 was withdrawn and wired abroad.
Some £13.5m was discovered in an account in Latvia and frozen, but £1.5m had been siphoned off and shared by the thieves and launderers.