Amoney launderer who claimed he had won the lottery 123 times has been forced to pay back almost half a million pounds after the National Crime Agency (NCA) hired an expert statistician to help prove he was lying.
Kashaf Ali Khan, 45, of Prospect Lane, Solihull , bought a house in the town with money he claimed he had won in the Pakistan lottery.
The convicted criminal said he bought the £ 412, 000 house with cash he earned from winning tickets.
But the NCA employed a statistician to prove he was lying, and the expert said his “haul” was as likely as winning the UK National Lottery jackpot 40 weeks running.
As a result, the agency has now seized £ 472, 740 from Khan under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).
Khan, who later admitted money laundering by using criminal money to buy the house, has now had to sell the property to pay off the confiscation order.
The 45 – year-old made the purchase in his elderly father’s name, but it was actually Kashaf Ali Khan who was the real purchaser of the property.
NCA investigating officer Phil Houghton said: “Kashaf Ali Khan wrongfully thought he could get away with funding his lifestyle by criminal means.
“Offenders like Khan play an enabling role for other criminals to move and clean the proceeds of crime. They will be relentlessly pursued by the NCA.
“The issue poses a priority threat for the NCA and we do everything possible to combat it.
“This order is a warning to those who believe they can benefit financially from a criminal lifestyle – crime doesn’t pay.”
The POCA order of £ 472, 740 was paid on 20 August 2019.
In October 2009 the NCA caught Khan handing over a holdall to someone which contained £ 74, 830 in cash.
The following September Khan admitted money laundering offences and received a suspended prison sentence and was forced to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
In January 2012 Khan was ordered to pay £ 175, 000 because of the conviction.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have no records of him working, and despite Khan having no recorded legitimate income, he paid off the £ 175, 000 in cash within 12 months.
It later emerged he had paid off the confiscation order using dirty money.
In 2013 Khan used cash from criminal activities to buy the Prospect Lane, Solihull property. During the previous year, there were a flurry of bank transfers from Dubai into Khan’s father’s UK account.
Using his father, Khan used black-market prize bond dealers in Pakistan in a bid to fool investigators into believing he had won legitimate prizes.
Winners of the Pakistan state lottery have to wait several weeks to collect their winnings. Because of that, some are willing to take a loss and sell their winning ticket to an agent for a lesser amount which they get immediately.
The black-market agents then sell on the winning tickets – for more than they are worth – to criminals like Khan, needing to clean their criminal money who can then get prize organisers to issue payment in their name .
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