Four people convicted of one of the largest money laundering prosecutions in the UK
Four defendants have been convicted today (Tuesday 4 March 2025) in relation to a £200 million-plus money laundering operation.
Gregory Frankel, 47, Daniel Rawson, 47 , Haroon Rashid, 54, and Arjun Babber, 32, were found guilty of money laundering at Leeds Cloth Hall Nightingale Crown Court.
Police investigation and prosecution review
A detailed and comprehensive West Yorkshire Police investigation into the activities of these defendants unearthed large amounts of unexplained cash passing through businesses. The cash was credited to the bank account of Fowler Oldfield after being collected from three different sites: Fowler Oldfield’s own premises at an industrial-style unit at Hall Lane, Bradford, the offices of Stunt & Co, Leconfield House, Curzon St, London, and Pure Nines, New House, in Hatton Garden, London.
The cash was brought into business addresses owned or managed by these defendants. It was delivered by cash couriers in sports bags, carrier bags and holdalls full of hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time, all of which was paid into the bank account of Fowler Oldfield.
The prosecution case established that this cash represented criminal property and Fowler Oldfield was being used as the vehicle to launder the dirty cash.
The cash was counted on the premises by staff using specialist counting machines such as those used in banks. The money was then bundled together for collection by G4S or the Post Office, who then delivered it to the NatWest bank to be deposited into Fowler Oldfield’s bank account.
Hannah Von Dadelszen of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This case is one of the largest money laundering prosecutions ever brought to the courts in England and Wales. It involved a colossal quantity of cash, undoubtedly derived from criminal activity. These defendants were at the heart of the operation to launder and legitimise the dirty cash, bringing it into the banking system.
“Criminal Justice enforcement, involving a number of agencies, have sent an important message out about the wholesale laundering of criminal proceeds. We have already seen the successful prosecution of 12 cash couriers who were bringing large bundles of criminal cash into Fowler Oldfield. Their convictions will hopefully deter them and others from becoming involved in the same way, in the future.
“The Financial Conduct Authority brought proceedings against the NatWest Bank for breaching money laundering regulations, reinforcing the need for compliance controls in the financial sector.
After a detailed and comprehensive investigation by West Yorkshire Police, the CPS Serious Economic, Organised Crime and International Directorate have successfully prosecuted these individuals who were the prime organisers in the laundering process.
“We will now make every effort to ensure that they do not enjoy the fruits of their criminal activity, pursuing confiscation proceedings against them.”
Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs of West Yorkshire Police said: “This was a sophisticated operation designed to launder a substantial amount of money connected to criminal activity in a number of regions across the UK.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that this cash is linked to organised crime activity, including drugs and wider criminality and I am pleased that we successfully demonstrated that to the court.
“By doing so we have uncovered a wider network of criminality and managed to cause significant disruption to their activities.
“At no point during our investigation did anyone come forward to claim any of the money that we seized.
“This kind of activity, while appearing to be detached from the impact caused to our communities by drugs and violence, was a key process in camouflaging the ill-gotten gains of organised crime by attempting to make it appear legitimate and ultimately these funds are further used for illicit purposes.
“But the truth is that these people, some of whom lived very lavish lifestyles, all profited from the misery caused by drugs and gangs.
“West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit is dedicated to the protection of vulnerable people from the activities of criminals.
“The outcome of this court case demonstrates that we have the capability to attack and disrupt large-scale criminal interests and prove their underlying criminality however legitimate they claim to be.
"This complex and detailed investigation has taken over eight years to reach this point and I am pleased the diligence and tremendous determination our officers, together with partner agencies, has achieved this result.
“Nobody is beyond the reach of the law.”
The CPS is committed to continuing to work closely with law enforcement and investigatory authorities to bring individuals and companies engaged in money laundering from serious organised criminals to justice.
Notes to editors
- Hannah Von Dadelszen is the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Regional and Wales Division of the CPS Serious Economic Organised and International Directorate (SEOCID)
- James Stunt (DOB: 21/01/1982) was found not guilty of concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property
- Gregory Frankel (DOB: 30/08/1977) was found guilty of concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property
- Daniel Rawson (DOB: 10/03/1977) was found guilty of concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property
- Haroon Rashid (DOB: 13/07/1970) was found guilty of concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property
- Arjun Babber (DOB: 02/07/1992) was found guilty of concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property.
The defendants:
GREGORY FRANKEL: Frankel was a director of Fowler Oldfield and controlled the business. He signed the contract for cash to be collected by G4S. He knew of the volume of cash being credited to Fowler Oldfield and the way it was being delivered to the premises. He collected and delivered some of the cash himself.
DANIEL RAWSON: As one of the two Directors of Fowler Oldfield, Rawson was at the heart of the business and was involved in strategic decisions affecting operations. He was also physically involved in counting the large amounts of cash delivered to the premises.
In addition, he was a key player in a private messaging system – Telegram - which was used to communicate passwords and the amounts of daily cash counts.
HAROON RASHID: was the sole director of Rashid Jewellers Ltd. He was a frequent visitor to the premises of Fowler Oldfield where he apparently had his own key and could use a swipe card and security code to enter the secure areas where cash was counted and to access the business’s computers.
ARJUN BABBER: He was based in London where other members of his family ran RPS Jewellers Limited, a well-known and reputable gold and jewellery business based in West London and Hatton Garden. Babber had his own company called Goldsteel Limited and in 2015 began to launder cash for others through Fowler Oldfield Limited.