On Nov. 17, UK NCA reported steroid smuggler asset recovery order.
UK NCA announced the final member of a global anabolic steroid manufacture and distribution network was ordered to hand over assets worth more than 9.8mn GPB.
Summary
Mohammed Afzal, of Belgrave Road in Slough was sentenced to 2 years in prison in Nov. 2019 after being found guilty of conspiring to manufacture anabolic steroids.
He was one of five men convicted after an UK NCA investigation, which began in 2014, identified illegal shipments totaling around 42 tons linked to the group.
The raw powder would be shipped by an Indian-based pharmaceutical firm to the UK, where it would be converted into liquid form in labs run by Afzal and sold in the UK.
Afzal claimed to only have 100k GPB in assets, but investigators found a series of property and crypto-currency investments made by him, often involving third parties.
The order includes portfolios containing around 7.5mn GPB in cryptocurrency, his share in property investments worth around 1mn GPB, and a Mercedes GLS SUV.
This is the biggest single recovery of cryptocurrency obtained under the Proceeds of Crime Act by the UK NCA and failure to pay to will results in another 10 years in jail.
In Nov. 2022 fellow gang member Alexander MacGregor from Dorney Reach in Maidenhead was ordered to pay 1.16mn GPB and a number of assets were identified.
Assets belonging to MacGregor identified by UK NCA include bank accounts/share portfolios, a Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, 2 Beretta shotguns and high-value watches.
Ringleader Jacob Sporon-Fiedler, the CEO of the company who sourced and shipped steroids from India, had already been ordered by the court to hand over 700k GPB.
Enforcement
Central Criminal Court made a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order for over 9.825mn GPB and failure to pay according to the order will result in 10 years in prison.
