Four Convicted Over £200 Million UK Money Laundering Scheme

A court in England on Tuesday convicted four men of involvement in one of the most prolific money-laundering syndicates in Britain's history.

Gregory Frankel, 47, Daniel Rawson, 48, Haroon Rashid, 54, and Arjun Babber, 32, all of whom were involved in the jewelry business, were found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of laundering more than £200 million worth of illicit cash through Fowler Oldfield, a now-defunct wholesale jeweler based in Bradford, Northern England.

Prosecutors alleged that from January 2014 to September 2016, couriers and employees of Fowler Oldfield took deliveries of huge amounts of cash and deposited the money into the company's accounts at U.K. lender NatWest, which the co-conspirators used to pay suppliers for gold bullion that they then shipped to Dubai.

NatWest's involvement in the scheme saw the bank pay a then-record £265 million penalty in December 2021 for failing to identify and escalate glaring red flags associated with Fowler Oldfield's accounts following an unprecedented criminal prosecution by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

Jurors on Tuesday cleared British socialite James Stunt, 43, of laundering a portion of the £200 million through Stunt & Co Ltd, his gold dealership in the upscale London district of Mayfair.

• Topics: Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Finance of Terrorism
• Source: United Kingdom
• Document Date: March 4, 2025