Unexplained wealth orders: suspected money launderer loses £ 10 million worth of property

Around £ 10 million of property has been awarded in a grand victory against some of the most dangerous criminals in the North of England.

The apartments and houses were turned over to the National Crime Agency by a Leeds businessman who investigators suspect of being a major money launderer.

The NCA says Mansoor Mahmood Hussain acted for gangsters, including a murderer and a drug dealer.

The agency believes it laundered its profits through a real estate empire.

For two decades, Hussain, known as Manni, developed his portfolio in West Yorkshire, Cheshire and London while posing as a legitimate businessman.

His social media accounts show him living a luxurious lifestyle that includes performance cars, business jets, superyachts, and appearances at VIP events attended by celebrities.

While the 40-year-old has never been convicted of a crime, investigators say they had intelligence linking him to serious gangsters, but were unable to obtain the detailed evidence necessary for the money laundering charges.

Instead, in 2019, they turned to the relatively new power of an Inexplicable Wealth Order that required the businessman to open his books and show how his wealth came from legitimate sources.

The NCA has announced that Hussain has given up fighting against him and has reached an agreement in which he has given up the vast majority of his empire: 45 apartments, offices and houses.

As part of the settlement, the NCA left him with four small properties that are still mortgaged and cash in a bank account that was not part of the original investigation.

Graeme Biggar, head of economic crime at the NCA, said: “This case is a milestone, demonstrating the power of Inexplicable Estate Orders, with significant implications for how we pursue illicit finance in the UK.

“This groundbreaking investigation has recovered millions of pounds in criminally obtained property.

“It is crucial for the economic health of local communities like Leeds, and for the country as a whole, that we ensure that property and other assets are legitimately held.”

The largest property ever handed over to the NCA is a high-specification office and apartment complex, Cubic, on the outskirts of Leeds, which Hussain owned entirely through one of his many companies.

The other properties include a house on one of the city’s most expensive roads, an apartment across from Harrods in London, and row houses in Leeds and Bradford.

In Superior Court legal documents, the NCA said it believed the seed money for Cubic’s development and other property purchases must have come from Hussain’s criminal associates because they could not find a legitimate source for his wealth. It had virtually paid no income taxes in a few years and many of its 77 businesses were inactive.

The court was told that Hussain was thought to be a “clean skin”, a conviction-free businessman who acted as a professional money launderer.

Today, the NCA said that one of the developer’s closest associates was Bradford gangster Mohammed Nisar Khan, known on the street as “Meggy.”

Last year he was jailed for life for murder, and investigators have long regarded him as one of the most prominent organized crime bosses in the north of England, involved in drug and firearms trafficking operations.

Hussain has been around Mohammed Khan since 2005 and often drove him to and from court, according to evidence gathered by investigators.

He also paid a £ 134,000 forfeiture order for Khan’s brother Shamsher, who had been separately convicted of money laundering.

The NCA also said that Dennis Slade, who once led an armed robbery ring, ran out of rent at Hussain’s seven-bedroom Leeds home, one of the properties he has now turned over.

The highly unusual outcome of the investigation, including the agreement that leaves the target with some property, comes after the future of the UWO powers was in doubt.

Of the four cases started since the warrants were created, two are still being disputed in court, while the NCA lost the third after the Superior Court ruled that the people targeted had no case to answer.

The NCA today defended the decision to settle Hussain’s case, saying that Manni Hussain had been left with virtually nothing but heavily mortgaged properties, and that it had saved the taxpayer time and money by dissuading him from launching a potentially lengthy and costly legal battle. . Investigators say the agreement did not include any promise to Mr. Hussain that he would not be investigated again in the future.

Duncan Hames of Transparency International, a white-collar crime and corruption campaign group that lobbied for the introduction of UWO, welcomed the outcome of the case.

“The important thing is that there is a high level of transparency so that people can see that justice is done,” Hames said. “Given the challenges in the court system, we should be grateful when cases reach a conclusion, but we need to see many more.”

The BBC has tried to contact Hussain for comment.