The wife of a convicted Bradford drug dealer laundered cash through her bank accounts and used a former mortgage broker to help create apparently legitimate earnings as part of a fraudulent £100,000 mortgage application, a court has heard.
Sidrah Rehman, 39, was given a suspended prison sentence at Bradford Crown Court after admitting a money laundering offence spanning two years.
The case centred on money linked to Rehman’s then-husband, Azad Yaqub, who was subsequently jailed for more than seven years for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and possession of criminal property.
Yaqub’s drug operation involved what the court described as “vast” quantities of Class A drugs 38.5kg of heroin and 4kg of cocaine.
Prosecutor James Holding said investigations into Yaqub’s activities using EncroChat material ultimately led police to two neighbouring properties on Charnwood Road in Undercliffe.
At 39 Charnwood Road, a property owned by Rehman, officers discovered a cannabis farm containing 586 plants. A Vietnamese man was found tending the crop.
Rehman lived next door with Yaqub at number 41. A search of that property uncovered approximately £25,000 in an upstairs room which appeared to be being used as a children’s nursery, along with several mobile phones.
One of the phones belonged to Rehman and became part of the investigation into how money generated through Yaqub’s criminal activities was being handled.
Analysis of four bank accounts belonging to Rehman identified £238,794.33 in deposits from sources that could not be explained. Some transfers carried references such as “gift”, which prosecutors said were intended to give the transactions an appearance of legitimacy.
Mr Holding told the court that Rehman would approach friends and relatives and arrange for them to transfer money into her accounts. In exchange, she provided them with physical cash originating from Yaqub.
“In summary, Miss Rehman was ‘washing’ the proceeds of Mr Yaqub’s drug dealing,” the prosecutor said.
The movement of the money also became connected to Rehman’s attempt to secure a £100,000 mortgage for 39 Charnwood Road.
Messages recovered from her phone showed that she had enlisted former mortgage broker Reece Nadir to assist with the arrangements.
The court was told Nadir acted as an intermediary in a scheme under which cash would be paid to an unnamed broker before money was returned by bank transfer through a property company.
Prosecutors said Nadir knew the cash was not legitimate and assisted in transforming it into money presented as legitimate wages. The arrangement allowed wage slips to be produced to support the mortgage application and make Rehman’s finances appear genuine.
Rehman later admitted Nadir had helped convert physical cash into what appeared to be legitimate wages and said he was paid £1,500. She acknowledged that the arrangement was fraudulent.
Nadir admitted acting as a middleman but denied receiving any benefit from the scheme.
During police interview, Rehman said her marriage to Yaqub had been arranged after he had served an earlier nine-year prison sentence.
She told investigators she owned number 39 but rented the property out and denied knowing that a cannabis farm was operating immediately next door to her home.
She also denied knowing about the approximately £25,000 found in the nursery at number 41.
Rehman nevertheless subsequently admitted giving cash to friends and relatives in exchange for transfers into her accounts to establish a financial trail that could be used for the mortgage application. She confirmed the cash she handed to them had come from Yaqub, while maintaining that she did not know about his criminal activities.
The prosecution argued it was “inconceivable” that she did not know about Yaqub’s previous nine-year prison sentence and contended that she must also have known about the cannabis operation at the neighbouring property she owned.
Rehman, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property between December 15, 2021 and December 23, 2023.
Nadir, 48, of St Martin’s Avenue, Leeds, admitted the same offence covering the period between February 11 and June 14, 2022.
The court heard Nadir had five previous convictions covering 11 offences, including conspiracy to defraud, converting criminal property and possessing articles for use in fraud. He had previously received a 62-month prison sentence.
Barrister Simon Hustler, mitigating for both defendants, told the court there had been an element of coercion and exploitation by Rehman’s husband.
Rehman is a mother of three. The court was also told that since his previous release from prison, Nadir had raised his children alone, with one going on to university and another achieving high A-level grades.
Sentencing Rehman, Recorder David Brooke said the offending had its origins in Yaqub’s drug operation.
“This is a case which really derives from the drug-dealing of your husband,” he said.
“He was a very significant drug dealer.”
The judge said Rehman had assisted in dealing with the cash proceeds of the operation and highlighted the £238,794 that had moved through her accounts from sources which could not be verified.
Addressing Nadir’s involvement, Recorder Brooke said he had assisted Rehman in converting money into wage slips so that a false mortgage could be obtained and made to appear legitimate.
Rehman was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, suspended for three years. She must complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
She is also due to face a Proceeds of Crime hearing at a later date, when the financial consequences of her offending will be considered.
Nadir was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.