Rug seller ‘Mr G’ laundered money for people smugglers

Asghar Gheshalghian, 48, of Wakefield Street, East Ham, acted as a middleman between migrants and the criminal gangs who risked people’s lives in smuggling operations. 

His unregistered money services business operated from an office in Wood Green.

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Gheshalghian accepted payments from migrants or their families, then released it to the gangs when the journey to the UK was complete. He also charged a commission for his services. 

To cover up his dodgy dealings he also ran a rug company. 

Gheshalghian was arrested in February 2021 based on a wealth of evidence built up during a two-year investigation. 

Phone evidence showed links with at least eight Iranian migrants who later arrived in the UK by boat or lorry and claimed asylum. 

National Crime Agency (NCA) officers also secretly recorded phone conversations in which he admitted “70 to 80 percent our business is illegal”. 

He also bragged that smuggling gangs trusted him.

“They approve me, they know I won’t cheat on them, once the task is completed – money,” he said. 

Following his arrest, officers searched his business premises, a storage lock-up and his home. 

They seized around £50,000 in cash. 

Cash found in Mr G's office (Image: NCA)Financial investigators also found evidence of around £1.6 million in payments into his bank accounts. 

Following a two-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, Gheshalghian was found guilty of five counts of money laundering and facilitating illegal immigration. 

He will be sentenced on Wednesday (January 24). 

NCA Branch Commander Mark Howes said: “By his own admission, Asghar Gheshalghian was trusted by organised crime gangs to handle their payments and launder the money they made through organising dangerous Channel boat and lorry crossings. 
 
“In doing so he enabled their criminality and happily took a cut from the profits they made from it. 
 
“Crossing the Channel illegally in boats or lorries is extremely dangerous. This is why disrupting and dismantling the gangs involved in organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA. 
 
“Targeting their financial flows through agents like Gheshalghian is just one of the ways we are doing that.” 
 
Michael Oatley, Unit Head for the CPS, said: “Asghar Gheshlaghian knowingly ran an unregulated money service business to help criminal gangs smuggle people into the UK illegally. 
 
“People smugglers treat vulnerable migrants desperate for a better life as goods, often putting their safety and even lives at risk for profit. Through his money laundering service, Gheshlaghian helped fund and facilitate dangerous criminals who exploited migrants and undermined UK border security for his own financial benefit. 
 
“This prosecution sends a clear message that the CPS, alongside law enforcement, will work tirelessly to help dismantle these criminal networks trying to facilitate illegal immigration.”