A Surrey woman who smuggled 18 bags containing £6.8 million worth of dirty cash on a flight to Dubai has been spared jail.
CCTV footage at Heathrow airport shows Samantha Horst, 51, from Staines-upon-Thames, smuggling an estimated £1.3 million worth inside three safes before her trip in September 2020.
He was part of an international money laundering network that moved more than £100 million of illicit cash from the UK to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during 83 separate trips between November 2019 and October 2020.
He and other members of the 17-man gang were paid up to £5,000 for each trip they made to the Gulf country. Bramall was given a suspended prison sentence following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The massive money laundering operation was led by ringleader Abdullah Alfalasi, a 48-year-old Emirati who was sentenced to more than nine years in prison in July 2022. Couriers, who communicated through WhatsApp groups titled ‘Sunshine and Lollipops’, made reservations on business class flights due to the extra baggage allowance.
Horst was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Isleworth Crown Court on 22 February. Horst was sentenced along with Paige Henry, 26, from Birmingham, Craig Bramall, 42, and Bridget Taylor, 44, from Edinburgh.
Two other members of the group from London, Ali Al-Nawab (40) and Mehdi Amrollahbibiyouki (41), were sentenced to prison today.
Adrian Searle, Director of the NCA National Economic Crime Centre, said: “Money laundering fuels the global drug trade, human trafficking, fraud, ransomware and many other crimes that cause misery and destroy lives. Today marks a significant step towards dismantling a transnational criminal gang responsible for laundering at least £100 million.
“Such gangs smuggle cash on behalf of international networks of controllers; high-level criminals who employ sophisticated techniques to move and conceal the proceeds of crime in eye-watering volumes and sometimes at the click of a button. The world’s most dangerous organized criminals and corrupt elites cannot operate effectively without them.
“This case, in which 17 people were convicted, reveals the scale and level of organization that money launderers will use to commit their crimes. “The NCA is committed to targeting these gangs and working with our partners around the world to reduce the threat from all forms of illicit financing.”
Horst, who was arrested following NCA raids in May 2021, made three trips to Dubai between August and September 2020, delivering 18 suitcases containing £6.8 million. Taylor embarked on the journey with a travel companion in September 2020, taking five suitcases containing £2 million. He also carried £1.3 million in three suitcases in July that year.
Henry made four trips to Dubai in August and September 2020, one alone and three with other couriers, carrying a total of 24 suitcases containing £9.05 million.
Amrollahbibiyouki, who was arrested at his home in April 2022, made three trips to Dubai in February and March 2020, delivering 12 suitcases containing £4.3 million. Evidence from his phones revealed that he was also responsible for counting and packaging a total of £11.1 million of crime money on eight trips made by other couriers, including ones made by himself.
Al-Nawab was arrested in May 2022 as he left the UK for Turkey. He made two trips in March 2020 and delivered nine suitcases containing £3.2 million.
The network collected money, mostly from drug dealing, from criminal groups in the UK and took it to counting houses, which were rented flats in central London.
The money was then vacuum-packed and sorted into suitcases, each containing around £500,000. They were sprayed with coffee or air freshener to prevent them from being found by search dogs.
NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby said: “This was a cash smuggler on a breathtaking scale. Although most couriers viewed these trips as money paid for adventures in the sun, the truth was that this money was earned from real-world losses.
“Profits are often reinvested into criminal activities such as drug trafficking, which fuels violence and insecurity in the UK and around the world. “This case, one of the largest of its kind ever investigated by the NCA, demonstrates our determination to target criminal networks involved in international money laundering.”
Horst was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, and Taylor was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years. Henry was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, on March 15.
Al-Nawab was sentenced to two years in prison and suspended for two years. Amrollahbibiyouki was sentenced to four years in prison.