Two jailed in Bradford £266m money laundering plot

Two men have been sentenced for their part in a £266m money-laundering plot based out of a scrap jewellery business.

Baqa Haider and Nathan Rivers played a part in the “industrial scale” operation, which involved processing bags of cash to buy gold grain that was then exported to Dubai with fake invoices, police said.

Haider, 51, was responsible for bogus invoices and exporting the gold while Rivers, 45, worked in the Fowler Oldfield jewellery site in Bradford.

Both were found guilty of money laundering and at Leeds Crown Court on Friday Haider, of Bob Marley Way, Lambeth, was jailed for six years and Rivers, of Hazelwood Drive, Leeds, was jailed for 27 months, suspended for two years.

Rivers was also given a curfew by the judge.

Four other men were found guilty of money laundering in March 2025 and sentenced to up to 11 years each, though three absconded and were sentenced in their absence.

West Yorkshire Police said inquiries continued to track down the trio and secure their extradition back to the UK.

The court heard the scheme, which began in 2013, was described by specialist officers as the largest investigation into the laundering of criminal cash in UK legal history.