Nelson dad’s money laundering appeal thrown out

Mohammed Ansar (53) of St Paul’s Road, was caged for 10 months at Burnley Crown Court in 2011. He pleaded guilty to five counts of converting or transferring criminal property totalling £92,000, Mr Justice King told London’s Appeal Court.

At a confiscation hearing in 2014, Ansar was ordered to stump up £144,552. That figure was said to represent his benefit from “general criminal conduct” and he was told to pay up within six months of face an extra 27 months in jail.

The confiscation order was made with Ansar’s consent, said the appeal judge.

The money laundering involved property acquisitions, conducted through a business operated by Ansar, and money was also “washed” through a bank account he controlled.

Ansar pleaded guilty on the basis that he knew the money came from tax evasion but did not realise it was linked to drug dealing. On appeal, he argued his convictions should be overturned as “unsafe” and that the confiscation order should never have been made.

Mr Justice King said that Ansar had been represented throughout the trial, sentencing and confiscation hearing by lawyers.

Pointing to Ansar’s guilty pleas, he said there were no arguable grounds on which his convictions could be challenged. The confiscation order had also been made by consent and could not be interfered with. Ansar’s complaints about his jail term - which he has already served - were also “hopeless”, the judge ruled.

Mr Justice King, sitting with Lord Justice Davis and Mrs Justice Patterson, said all the appeals were “without any merit” and dismissed them.