Hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza’s eldest son is ordered to pay back £5,200 despite making nearly £180,000 from a money laundering plot
- Tito Ibn-Sheikh, 35, was handed information by an HSBC bank insider for the plot
- Bank accounts were then used to launder the proceeds of thefts and frauds
- Hamza was jailed for a total of three years and nine months in January over scam
- He is the eldest son of the notorious hook-handed hate cleric Abu Hamza
The eldest son of hook-handed hate cleric Abu Hamza has been ordered to pay back just £5,200 despite making nearly £180,000 from a money laundering plot.
Tito Ibn-Sheikh, 35, was handed information by an HSBC bank insider, which he used to create false identities for account holders, Southwark Crown Court heard.
The bank accounts were then used to launder the proceeds of thefts and frauds, with victims losing a total of £342,000 between May 2018 and December 2019.
Ibn-Sheikh, one of eight children of Hamza, was jailed for a total of three years and nine months in January.
Appearing via video-link from HMP Highpoint in Suffolk, he confirmed his benefit from the money laundering scheme was £179,413.
But his realisable assets amount to just £5,242.64 and a judge ordered the cash to be confiscated following a brief hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act today.
Ibn-Sheikh was also jailed for 12 years in 2014 for leading a gang who kidnapped a man and tortured him over a £15,000 debt.
At the time of the money laundering scheme Ibn-Sheikh was on licence following his release from prison.
Tito Ibn-Sheikh (pictured) was handed information by an HSBC bank insider, which he used to create false identities for account holders, Southwark Crown Court heard
Ibn-Sheikh is one of eight children of the radical Muslim hate cleric Abu Hamza (pictured)
Judge Adam Hiddleston said: ‘I will make the order for the confiscation of the available amount, ceased as part of an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
‘There is also a serious crime prevention order to be imposed.
‘These restrictions in relation to communication devices and other terms will last from five years after the date of which you are released from prison.
‘If you breach any of the terms of the order, that is a separate offence for which you may be punished for.
‘These are obviously serious matters.’
Ibn-Sheikh, of Godolphin Road, Shepherd’s Bush, west London, admitted two counts of conspiracy to convert criminal property, possession of an article for use in fraud, possession of fraudulent identity documents, and possession of criminal property on the 11 January this year.
Ibn-Sheikh, one of eight children of Hamza, was jailed for a total of three years and nine months on Tuesday at Southwark Crown Court (pictured: Library image)
Former Finsbury Mosque imam Abu Hamza, 64, is serving life without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of terror offences in both the UK and US.
Another of his sons, Yasser Kamel, 31, was jailed for four years last April after he was caught with cocaine, MDMA and ketamine worth £30,000 at his home
Speaking after Ibn-Sheikh was jailed earlier this year Russell Tyner, of the CPS Organised Crime Division, said: ‘Ibn-Sheikh was perfectly willing to bank and move large amounts of stolen money.
‘The number of passports and other ID showed he was more than just a neutral recipient of the cash.
‘He was an active and willing participant in the conspiracy and he had the ability and means to create false accounts to launder cash.
‘His guilty pleas shows the strength of the case against him.
‘These are not victimless crimes and wherever possible the CPS will work with our law enforcement partners to bring money laundering cases before a court and any ill-gotten gains recovered.’
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