Pair guilty of money laundering

Mohammed Ahmad and Zohaib Assad were found guilty

Two men involved in a multi-million pound operation have become the first in Scotland to be convicted of the specific offence of money laundering.

Mohammed Ahmad, 53, and Zohaib Assad, 26, will be sentenced later after being found guilty after a five-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Over a seven month period, £2.2m of drugs money was delivered in plastic bags to Makkah Travel in Glasgow.

Charges against a third man, William Gurie, were not proven.

Plastic bags

He had been accused of acting as a courier for the operation.

HM Revenue and Customs, who launched an undercover operation after a tip-off from a bank, said it was a highly significant test case.

It said new legislation - the Proceeds of Crime Scotland Act - gave it the power to change the face of organised crime in Scotland.

During the customs investigation, officers witnessed money being delivered in plastic bags and holdalls to the travel agency in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow.

It was then banked and transferred, mainly to Pakistan.

At the end they were depositing money in the bank twice a day Gordon Miller HM Revenue and Customs

When customs officers swooped they seized £384,000 in two holdalls ready to be sent overseas.

About 80% of the notes were contaminated with heroin.

Ahmad, of Great Western Road, Glasgow, owned half of the travel agency.

Assad, of Waukglen Crescent, Darnley, was the son of a man who owned the other half.

His father lived in Pakistan.

Mr Gurie, of Dee Place, East Kilbride, was cleared of money laundering and possessing criminal money.

Pouring in

The scam operated between 23 February 2003 and 26 September 2003.

None of the private individuals who were sent the money were ever traced.

The judge, Lord Dawson, called for reports on both men and adjourned the case pending sentence later this month.

Gordon Miller, head of criminal investigations for HM Revenue and Customs, said: "We believe Makkah Travel could have been eventually laundering £10m to £12m annually.

"All the time the amount of money pouring in was escalating and until customs stepped in it was a successful gateway for money laundering. At the end they were depositing money in the bank twice a day."