Samir Jagirdar, the owner and director of London’s Hatton Garden-based Pure Nines, has been sentenced to seven years in prison at Leeds Crown Court for his role in laundering £266 million in criminal cash. The Bradford-centred operation, uncovered by West Yorkshire Police, utilized scrap jewellery businesses to purchase high-purity gold grain shipped to Dubai using forged invoices.
The Bottom Line
- The Financial Scale: West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit established that between 2014 and 2016, the plot processed cash at a rate of £1.7m a day at times through Bradford-based Fowler Oldfield, totalling £266 million.
- Corporate Penalties: NatWest was fined £264,772,619.95 in December 2021 by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing to properly monitor banking activities related to Fowler Oldfield between 8 November 2012 and 23 June 2016.
- Ongoing Enforcement: While multiple defendants have received prison terms ranging from 27 months to 11 years and eight months, authorities continue extradition and arrest efforts for co-conspirators who fled the country.
The Anatomy of the £266 Million Bradford Laundering Network
The investigation into the multi-million-pound operation began in 2016 after a security company raised alarms regarding a massive, sudden surge in daily cash collections from Fowler Oldfield in Hall Lane, Bradford. According to West Yorkshire Police, banking checks revealed that incoming funds escalated from £11,000 in 2012 to £650,000 the following year, before surging to £95 million by 2015. Couriers transported bags of cash to the premises, where staff utilized automated counting machines before funds were deposited into NatWest accounts to acquire high-purity gold grain.
Ramona Senior, who led the Economic Crime Unit at the time, described the enterprise as laundering criminal cash on a truly industrial scale. The gold was subsequently shipped to Dubai using fake shipping invoices to grant illicit gains apparent commercial legitimacy. When police executed search warrants in September 2016, they seized cash and gold valued at over £4 million across locations in Bradford and London’s Hatton Garden.
Pure Nines and the Hatton Garden Gold Front
At the center of the London operations was Pure Nines Ltd, a company established by Samir Jagirdar. Internal police investigations and forensic analysis of 8,000 hours of CCTV footage revealed that Pure Nines operated primarily as a cash-counting house rather than engaging in genuine gold trade.
Evidence presented in court demonstrated that international money launderer Shahid Qadar directed the bulk of funds to Fowler Oldfield through Jagirdar’s company. Jagirdar pleaded guilty to money laundering prior to trial and received his seven-year sentence alongside a company director ban. His brother-in-law, Baqa Haider, received a six-year prison term after being convicted alongside Fowler Oldfield staff member Nathan Rivers, who was handed a 27-month suspended sentence.
Regulatory Fallout and Outstanding Warrants
The systemic failures within the banking sector supporting the operation resulted in severe regulatory penalties. In December 2021, NatWest was handed a £264,772,619.95 fine by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations regarding Fowler Oldfield’s accounts.
| Defendant / Entity | Role | Sentence / Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Samir Jagirdar | Owner and director, Pure Nines | 7 years imprisonment |
| Daniel Rawson | Director, Fowler Oldfield | 10 years, 10 months imprisonment |
| Gregory Frankel | Director, Fowler Oldfield | 11 years, 8 months imprisonment (in absentia) |
| NatWest | Banking Institution | £264,772,619.95 FCA fine (Dec 2021) |
Meanwhile, law enforcement efforts continue to locate three key co-defendants—Gregory Frankel, Haroon Rashid, and Arjun Babber—who failed to attend their trials and are believed to have fled the UK. Frankel, a director of Fowler Oldfield, was previously sentenced in his absence to 11 years and eight months, while Rashid and Babber received 10-year and 11-year terms respectively. Proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act remain active against all convicted individuals, and Gary Smith is scheduled to stand trial in February 2027 for failing to report suspicious activity within the regulated sector.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
