‘Cuckoo Smurfs’ money laundering

THREE men have become the first in Scotland to be convicted of a major money laundering scam known as “cuckoo smurfing”.

Shopkeeper Muhammed Hameed roped in his uncle Saleem Shikari and worker Shahid Aslam to hide almost £700,000 of ill-gotten gains.

The sophisticated scheme the trio were part of involves crime gangs replacing legitimate sums of cash – intended for bank transfer overseas – with “dirty” money.

They were snared as part of Operation Confab – a huge probe set up to catch Hameed and his associates. When police swooped in 2013, the three were caught red-handed with a plastic bag stuffed with £75,000 of banknotes at Hameed’s flat in Dundee.

Hameed, 32, Aslam, 36, and Shikari, 52, are now behind bars after the they each pled guilty to a charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

A judge remanded them in custody and they face a lengthy jail-term when they are sentenced next month.

Our obituary of journalist and broadcaster Hugh Prysor-jones published on 18 August wrongly reported the date of his death as 7 July, 2015, rather than 5 August. We apologise for the error.

On 18 August, our report entitled “Dugdale dismisses bad reputation MSP claims” wrongly referred to Greg Mulholland as one of the former Labour MPS who had been tipped as potential Scottish Parliament candidates. Mr Mulholland is in fact the sitting Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, while Gregg Mcclymont is the former shadow pensions minister who has been linked with Holyrood.

It is the policy of The Scotsman to correct errors as soon as is practicable.

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