Man hid thousands in drug money by converting it into cryptocurrency (original) (raw)

An associate of an organised crime gang (OCG) helped to launder thousands of pounds earned through dealing cocaine by transferring it into cryptocurrency. The gang traded more than £4.6m worth of cocaine and thought they could make their funds "untouchable".

Ranj Hassan, 35, of Cardiff, assisted the gang into laundering the proceeds of 40kg of cocaine which had been traded. The group used EncroChat in the mistaken belief their business would not fall on the radar of the authorities.

An investigation into the OCG by police was named Operation Solano, with Joshua Billingham, 27, from Caerphilly, and Amir Khan, 31, from Cardiff playing leading roles in the drugs operation.

In a bid to hide the scale of the operation, Billingham and Khan recruited partners, friends and family members to help launder the money, while they were both serving prison sentences for other matters. During the period of the conspiracy, US$2.85m worth of cryptocurrency transactions were made in associated accounts and withdrawals of US$2.38m were made.

In 2020, Gwent Police searched a flat in Caerphilly and found two hydraulic presses used in the package and distribution of cocaine. Items were recovered which showed the extent the flat was being used to cut and package cocaine. A sample of half a kilo of cocaine, six kilos of cutting agent and other paraphernalia show to what extent the flat was being used.

Prosecutor Ffion Tomos said: "The proceeds of this criminality had to be laundered. The involvement of (Hassan) and others saw them hide those proceeds away from law enforcement agencies. For this group, the chosen form was Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, moved from account to account in order to try to make that money untraceable. Thousands of dollars were transferred between various crypto wallets."

Joshua Billingham (left) and Amir Khan (right) led an operation which traded more than £4.6m of cocaine with much of the profits laundered into cryptocurrency (Image: Gwent Police)

Hassan, of Soudrey Way, Butetown, would be transferred regular money which he would then encrypt into cryptocurrency before transferring the money in this form to another party. He was responsible for transferring $114,167 into cryptocurrency, which equates to around £86,000. The defendant also transferred a separate amount of £5,000 to another bank account.

He was arrested at his car wash business in City Road in February 2023 and claimed the financial transactions related to him purchasing cars. Hassan later pleaded guilty to concealing/converting/disguising criminal property. The court heard he has two previous convictions for possessing an offensive weapon and failure to surrender.

In mitigation, Benjamin Waidhofer said his client was a father of two children and was the "main provider" for his family. Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: "You assisted the co-conspirators in laundering illegal profits from their drug dealing and made their jobs the easier by doing so."

Hassan was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work and a 12 day rehabilitation activity requirement. The defendant was also made subject to Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) proceedings.

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