Two Sentenced in £266 Million UK Gold-Laundering Scheme Using Fake Dubai Shipping Invoices
Two men have been sentenced for their roles in a £266 million money-laundering operation that used a Bradford scrap-jewellery business to process large volumes of criminal cash, convert the funds into high-purity gold and export the gold to Dubai under false shipping invoices.
West Yorkshire Police said Baqa Haider, 51, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to six years in prison, while Nathan Rivers, 45, received a 27-month sentence suspended for two years with a curfew requirement. Both had been convicted of money laundering following a further trial that concluded in July 2026.
Cash processed at up to £1.7 million a day
The investigation centred on Fowler Oldfield Ltd, a Bradford scrap-jewellery business. Police said couriers from across the UK regularly delivered bags of cash to the premises. At times, the company processed about £1.7 million in cash per day.
The money was banked and used to purchase high-purity gold grain, which was then shipped to Dubai using fake invoices. Investigators found that more than £200 million in criminal cash was laundered through Fowler Oldfield’s NatWest account between 2014 and 2016, while more than £266 million in total was paid into the company’s accounts from January 2014 to September 2016.
The Economic Crime Unit opened the investigation in 2016 after a security company raised concerns about a sharp increase in cash collections from Fowler Oldfield. Police later searched the Bradford premises and two London businesses, including Pure Nines Ltd, arresting 16 people and recovering more than £4 million in cash and gold.
At Pure Nines, officers also found 147 apparent gold bars. Police said only one was genuine gold; the others were silver bars plated to look like gold, which helped create the appearance of a legitimate gold-dealing business.
Earlier convictions and continuing enforcement
Four other men had already been sentenced in March 2025 for their roles in the same scheme. Three — Gregory Frankel, Haroon Rashid and Arjun Babber — were sentenced in their absence and remain sought by police, who say efforts to locate them and secure their extradition are continuing.
Samir Jagirdar, the owner and director of Pure Nines, pleaded guilty to money laundering before the later trial and is due to be sentenced separately.
The case also has a direct banking-compliance link. In December 2021, NatWest was fined £264.8 million following an FCA prosecution over failures to properly monitor Fowler Oldfield’s banking activity between November 2012 and June 2016. A further defendant, Gary Smith, is due to stand trial in February 2027 on an allegation of failing to report suspicious activity while working in the regulated sector.
The case illustrates how bulk cash, apparently legitimate commercial businesses, gold and cross-border trade documentation can be combined to move and disguise criminal proceeds at industrial scale.
