Two men sentenced for funnelling £14m through East London high street in £190m global crime network

Two men who played key roles in a major international money laundering network have been sentenced following a City of London Police investigation into large‑scale international money laundering, facilitated via the “Encrochat” encrypted messaging network.

During the investigation, the Serious Organised Crime Team, a joint City of London Police and National Crime Agency partnership, seized over £2.5m in cash and gold. The pair were convicted for their involvement in laundering over fourteen million pounds linked to serious and organised crime groups operating across the UK and overseas.

Ali Raza, 43, of Winston Way, Ilford was sentenced to six years in prison reduced to four years and eight months based guilty plea and time served on an electronic tag. Adeel Aslam, 42, of Albert Road, Ilford was sentenced to three years reduced to two years and two months due to time served on an electronic tag.

The investigation formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK‑wide response to intelligence obtained from the EncroChat encrypted communications platform. Messages recovered from EncroChat revealed that during the height of the Covid‑19 pandemic, Raza and Aslam were busy laundering funds on behalf of international organised crime groups.

Detective Inspector Weller, from the City of London Police Serious Organised Crime Team, said

"As the UK grappled with the challenges of the Covid‑19 lockdown, Raza and his associates were laundering vast sums of criminal cash, communicating under the presumed anonymity of EncroChat.

"Their network laundered money for multiple organised crime groups, enabling offenders to introduce illicit cash into the legitimate economy. Money laundering on this scale fuels and emboldens organised crime, with criminals paying a commission to have the proceeds of crime cleaned.  By targeting sophisticated money laundering networks, the City of London Police Serious Organised Crime Team degrade the illicit finance infrastructure in London and disrupt wider criminality.

"The partnership between the City of London Police and the National Crime Agency was instrumental in securing today’s sentences, and we remain committed to working together to tackle money laundering and illicit finance."

Raza, who ran the criminal enterprise from a corrupt money service business, Rana Money Exchange Ltd, in East Ham, pleaded guilty to laundering £14 million between 23 March and 12 June 2020. Aslam was also found guilty by a jury of participating in the same activity.

Raza used his position at the money exchange business to disguise criminal transactions and act as a front for processing cash linked to drug supply networks. Aslam supported the operation on a day‑to‑day basis, coordinating cash collections, relaying instructions, and assisting with the movement of high‑value sums on behalf of organised crime groups.

Although the charges focused on a three‑month period, it is believed that the wider network under Raza’s control had smuggled or transferred more than £190 million between May 2019 and June 2020. Cash was either physically transported out of the UK or moved through international transfers to Dubai, from where the network was coordinated.

Raza acted as a trusted facilitator for organised crime groups, accepting large volumes of criminal cash at his high‑street premises and charging a commission to onboard the funds into the UK financial system before laundering them overseas. Officers observed senior members of organised crime groups delivering substantial sums to Raza, including a single £1 million cash drop by a Russian organised crime network.

Raza was arrested on 11 June 2020 in an underground car park in Walthamstow, where officers found him wearing a homemade money belt packed with £150,000 in £50 notes. Follow‑up searches revealed £1.3 million in cash hidden in a safe at his business premises, $300,000 at his home, and further assets, including gold and UAE Dirhams, stored in a safety deposit box in east London.

Safer City Streets is the City of London Police’s commitment to keeping the Square Mile one of the safest places in the country to live, work and visit. By combining highly visible neighbourhood policing, intelligence-led hotspot patrols, cutting-edge technology and strong partnerships with businesses and communities, we are preventing crime, targeting prolific offenders and delivering safer, more welcoming streets. From tackling phone snatching and retail crime to reducing violence and anti-social behaviour, Safer City Streets is about making people feel safe as well as being safe.