Another story about an enterprising member of the ethnic minority community ‘enriching’ British society and establishing a ‘business link’ between Cumbria and West Yorkshire.
Asif Mahmood aka Mohammed Asif Younas aka Mahmood Ali, age 61 years and a resident of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. The following story emerged recently at Carlisle Crown Court and reads like something out of a TV screen play, possibly a crime drama or a situation comedy, but the story is real and almost beggars belief.
On March 3rd 2023, an MG sports car was subject to a vehicle stop on the north bound section of the M6 motorway by Cumbria Police. The car was being driven by a 61-year-old Asian man, Asif Mahmood. Mahmood was driving from Huddersfield to Carlisle to make a delivery, a delivery of cannabis.
When Cumbria Police officers searched the car, they discovered 6 kgs. of cannabis. Asif Mahmood is a drug courier for a gang based in West Yorkshire. Mahmood was taken to Carlisle where he was remanded in custody and his MG car was impounded until he could face trial.
In May 2023, at Carlisle Crown Court, Asif Mahmood was found guilty of “possession of a Class B drug with intent to supply”. He was given a six months suspended sentence, with a rehabilitation order and in order to prevent repeat courier activity, he was also given a six months driving ban and his £30,000 MG was impounded by court order.
After several weeks on remand, Asif Mahmood left the court and returned to West Yorkshire to find the car finance company was after him for falling behind with payments. So he recruited the help of a friend who travelled back up the M6 with him to Carlisle. Just two days after his court appearance, Asif Mahmood and his friend turned up at the Cumbria Police holding facility on the Kingstown industrial estate in Carlisle. He presented the staff there with all his documents, his driving licence, the vehicle ownership documents, insurance certificate, plus another document in his friend’s name.
The staff at the Kingstown unit were not aware of the court order placed just two days previously, nor were they aware of the six months driving ban and the invalid insurance on the MG. So the two men from Huddersfield were allowed to take the car and drive away. This was in fact an act of theft, the MG was being stolen from police custody.
The authorities in Carlisle soon discovered what had happened and the ‘stolen’ MG was tracked back to Huddersfield. Asif Mahmood was arrested for breach of the suspended sentence conditions and the theft of the impounded car. He once again appeared before the Crown Court in Carlisle. This time the court had reasons to dig a little deeper into the offender’s background and made some interesting discoveries, under a different name just over ten years ago, the defendant had been convicted of a multi million-pound mortgage fraud!
This was the background: Between 2004 and 2010, Mohammed Asif Younas aka Mahmood Ali aka Asif Mahmood, was living and working in West Yorkshire as the director of the law firm Montague Mason Solicitors. However a major fraud case investigation by West Yorkshire Police uncovered a criminal enterprise; a total of 32 bogus mortgage applications, resulting in £7million fraud across 68 different bank accounts.
In 2010 the Solicitors Regulation Authority struck off Mohammed Asif Younas, he could no longer operate as a lawyer, and the solicitor’s firm was closed down. At the time Mr Mahmood’s whereabouts were described as “unknown”. However he was soon brought to trial and found guilty of “conspiracy to defraud and money laundering”. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
All these details were of course not known to Carlisle Crown Court when he appeared on the drug courier charges in 2023 under the name Asif Mahmood. The court were now aware of who they were dealing with and he was given a 12-month prison sentence in place of the original six months suspended sentence.
How often do the supporters of multiculturalism and immigration insist that immigration is good for Britain, that immigrant communities enrich British culture and bring skills and contribute to the British economy, are enterprising and create new business opportunities. So where does this case fit into that framework we wonder?
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Top Image: Public Domain.
Lower Image: Asif Mahmood aka Mohammed Asif Younas aka Mahmood Ali. Cumbria Police.
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