by A Surrey woman who smuggled 18 bags full of £6.8 million in dirty money on a flight to Dubai is avoiding jail.
CCTV footage from Heathrow airport shows Samantha Horst, 51, from Staines-upon-Thames, smuggled around £1.3m in three cases before the trip in September 2020.
She was part of an international money laundering network that transported more than £100 million in illicit money from the UK to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during 83 separate trips between November 2019 and October 2020.
She and other members of the gang of 17 were paid up to £5,000 for each trip they took to the Gulf state. Bramall has since been given a suspended prison sentence following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The massive money laundering operation was led by the leader Abdullah Alfalasi, a 48-year-old Emirati national who was jailed for more than nine years in July 2022. they were booked on business class flights because of the extra baggage allowance.
Horst was sentenced to 24 months in prison suspended for two years at Isleworth Crown Court on February 22. She was sentenced along with Paige Henry, 26, from Birmingham, Craig Bramall, 42, Bridget Taylor, 44, from Edinburgh.
Two other members of the group, Ali Al-Nawab, 40, and Mehdi Amrollahbibiyouki, 41, both from London, were sentenced today.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Center at the NCA, said: “Money laundering drives the global drug trade, human trafficking, fraud, ransom goods and many other crimes that cause misery and destroy lives. Today is an important step towards taking down a single transnational criminal gang responsible for laundering at least £100 million.
“Groups like this smuggle money on behalf of international controller networks – top criminals who use sophisticated techniques to move and hide the proceeds of crime in eye-watering amounts and, sometimes, at the click of a button. The world’s most dangerous organized criminals and corrupt elites cannot operate effectively without them.
“With the sentencing of 17 people, this case highlights the scale and level of organization that money launderers will deploy to carry out their crimes. The GNT is committed to targeting these gangs and working with our partners around the world to reduce the threat from all forms of illicit finance.”
Horst, who was arrested following NCA raids in May 2021, made three trips to Dubai between August and September 2020, checking 18 cases involving £6.8 million. Taylor made the trip with a group of travelers in September 2020, taking five suitcases containing £2 million. She also carried £1.3 million in three cases in July of that year.
Henry made four trips to Dubai in August and September 2020, one and three with other couriers, carrying 24 cases totaling £9.05 million.
Amrollahbibiyouki, who was arrested at his home address in April 2022, made three trips to Dubai in February and March 2020, checking into 12 cases involving £4.3 million. Evidence on his phones suggested he was also responsible for counting and packaging criminal money totaling £11.1 million from eight trips made by other couriers, including his own.
Al-Nawab was arrested in May 2022 as he was leaving the UK to travel to Turkey. He made two trips in March 2020, checking nine cases involving £3.2 million.
The network collected cash from criminal groups across the UK, mainly drug-dealing profits, and took it to counting houses which were rented flats in Central London.
The money was then vacuum packed and separated into bags, which would normally be around £500,000 each. They were sprayed with coffee or air fresheners in an attempt to prevent sniffer dogs from finding them.
NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby said: “This was cash smuggling on a monumental scale. Although many of the messengers considered that these trips were paid for by the adventures of the sun, the stark reality is that this money was generated from the harm of the world.
“Profits are often reinvested in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, fueling violence and insecurity in the UK and around the world. This case, one of the largest of its kind investigated by the NCA, demonstrates our commitment to targeting the criminal networks involved in international money laundering.”
Horst was sentenced to 24 months in prison suspended for two years, while Taylor was sentenced to 21 months in prison 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, suspended for two years. Amrollahbibiyouki was imprisoned for four years.
