Pair of 'window cleaners' made over £1m in just two years selling fake UK driving licences to criminals and illegal immigrants
Bilal Iqbal, 25, and Ummad Ahmed, 32, ran 'a very large scale commercial and very profitable enterprise' which used social media to advertise the fake licences for as little as £60, with a fast-track service available for an extra £40.
The pair are known to have produced the high-quality bogus documents for at least 5,000 people but National Crime Agency investigators believe it could have been as many as 40,000.
Alongside incriminating footage on Iqbal's phone of licences being posted to customers were 'many videos' revealing the luxury lifestyle the men enjoyed, with high-end watches, designer clothes, restaurant bills, expensive cars and lavish holidays on display.
The vast sums of cash the men made was paid to 'money mules' who allowed their bank accounts to be used before the money were laundered through a window cleaning business called Sparkle Up Ltd, where Ahmed was listed as director.
The scam was discovered when the NCA investigated Liverpool drug dealer Eddie Burton, 23, who used one of their fake documents to extend his operations across Europe.
Jailing the pair for six years each today, Judge Alex Gordon, sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court, said: 'You were the leading lights in a long-running and sophisticated operation.
'You created a minimum of 5,000 false driving licences and recruited others to use their personal accounts to receive the payments from customers.
'It may have been that the target market was those underage who wanted to buy alcohol, which put them at risk of the serious offence of possession of a false identity document, but your customers included Eddie Burton who was using it to evade law enforcement.'
John Turner, a senior investigating officer at the NCA, said afterwards: 'These men ran an extremely lucrative illegal enterprise and operated as professional enablers at the heart of serious and organised crime.
'These IDs helped high-profile criminals evade law enforcement and operate anonymously.
'They could also be used by offenders involved in organised immigration crime to provide people smuggled into the country with false UK identities.'
The court heard how Burton fled the UK in 2021 following his arrest for supplying drugs and was living between Spain and the Netherlands under an alias to avoid detection.
In the summer of 2022, his fingerprints and DNA were found on two lorries intercepted at Dover with heroin, cocaine and ketamine with a street value of £20 million concealed in adapted fuel tanks.
Burton was subsequently arrested in Ibiza and was found to have sent WhatsApp messages that included details of his purchase of one of the fake documents, with payment sent to an account linked to Iqbal.
The NCA then put Iqbal and Ahmed, both of east London, under surveillance, and found the former managed the financial side of the operation, while the latter created the fake licences.
The documents were professional enough to pass basic checks and included genuine-looking holographic stickers that were purchased on eBay.
At least 5,000 licences were sent out between 2022 and the start of this year but investigators believe the operation could have been running for up to eight years.
Money mules received payments from customers in return for a five per cent cut, with just over £1 million going through Iqbal's bank accounts from January 2022 to September last year. The profit during this period was £661,455.
The forgers were arrested on January 21 this year, shortly before they were due to jet away for a break in Dubai.
Iqbal was on his way to a Post Office and was found clutching envelopes with 19 licences – one due to go to the US. Another 21 licences were found at his Ilford home.
Ahmed was seized at his home in Hornchurch, where the equipment for making the false licences was found.
It included an ID card printer, laminator, blank plastic cards, holographic foil, a hard drive and printer and more than £30,000 in cash.
A storage facility near City of London Airport was also searched and a machine used to heatseal plastic was found.
Prosecutor Deepak Kapur told the court: 'These two defendants, with the assistance of others, ran a very large scale commercial and very profitable enterprise whereby they advertised [and] received orders for fraudulent UK driving licences.
'Once paid for, and when printed, they were dispatched by post. They were offered for sale with prices starting at £60 for a standard licence. Additional amounts, £40, were charged for a three to four day priority service.
'Third parties were utilised to receive the proceeds of the placed orders. Once the proceeds were received, the third parties were paid commission.'
Checks of the men's phones revealed WhatsApp messages which showed there were 300 customers waiting for fake licences at one point, he added.
Iqbal and Ahmed pleaded guilty in February to one count each of possession of a false identity document with intent, possession of apparatus for making false identity documents, concealment of criminal property, possessing criminal property and entering into or becoming concerned with the arrangement of concealment of criminal property.
Oliver Renton, defending Iqbal, said the offending followed a period of strained relationships with his family but he deeply regretted his actions and wanted to resume caring for relatives who have medical problems.
Ahmed claimed he had made a 'great error of judgement' after getting into financial difficulties and his children had been left distraught as they didn't know where he was because the family couldn't bear to tell them he was in jail.
NCA investigator Mr Turner added: 'Tackling enablers for wider criminality, such as Iqbal and Ahmed, is a key pillar in our mission to protect the public from serious and organised crime.'
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