The Serious Fraud Office has recovered £1.5m from a convicted fraudster, who is on-the-run and also implicated in a fraudulent mortgage scheme worth £49m.
According to the SFO, Nisar Afzal, 61 from Birmingham, fled Britain for Pakistan in the mid-2000s and is implicated, but not charged, in a series of mortgage frauds for which his brother, Saghir Afzal, was convicted and jailed for 13 years in 2011.
The £49m mortgage fraud took place between 2004 and 2006 and offences included two counts of conspiracy to obtain money transfers by deception and four counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.
Nisar Afzal was previously convicted between 1991 and 1996 before both Wolverhampton and Birmingham Crown Courts, for obtaining property by deception, conspiracy to obtain property by deception and conspiracy to defraud.
In a statement released last week, the SFO confirmed it had secured more than £1.5m from Nisar Afzal, from the sale of two properties in Birmingham.
Prior to the SFO securing the funds, they were subject to an account freezing order to prevent Nisar Afzal withdrawing the money.
The money recovered will be returned to HM Treasury and invested in public projects.
The Criminal Finances Act 2017 amended the law to enable law enforcement agencies to freeze and forfeit money held in bank accounts that resulted from unlawful activity or which was intended to be used to support such activity.
A SFO spokesperson said this case was the department's first use of the enforcement tool brought in under the new powers.
Mark Thompson, chief operating officer at the Serious Fraud Office said: "Nisar Afzal decided to become a fugitive from justice instead of remaining in the UK to answer for his activities.
"Our actions send a clear message to anyone involved in fraud, bribery or corruption – that we will work tirelessly to get back the proceeds of your crimes."
rachel.addison@ft.com
