Smuggler’s gold sold for £2.2m
GOLD belonging to a Hillingdon crime boss has been sold at auction raising £2.2million for taxpayers.
Chaudry 62, of Cooperfield Avenue, Hillingdon, was the mastermind of a £9m smuggling plot that was broken up by police and HM Revenue and Customs.
Ali was jailed for nine years in 2012 and his loot of 150 kilos of smuggled gold was sold off by Wilsons Auctions, in Belfast, last month.
Kevin Newe, assistant director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “We are pleased to have secured such a large amount of cash for the taxpayer and public finances.
“This is money needed to fund the local services we all need and rely on. Ali thought his plans were foolproof but he hadn’t factored in the expertise of our investigators and their ability to uncover fraud – however well it may be disguised.
“HMRC will always look to recover the illgotten gains of criminals and use a variety of methods to do so.”
The sale included lots
Ali, of Asian gold bracelets, necklaces, rings, a statue and gold bars.
Ali has also been ordered to pay back £4.3 million of his criminal profits or serve an extra 10 years behind bars.
Further action to recover the remaining criminal profits is being taken by selling properties and land worth nearly £2m owned by Ali in Birmingham and London.