Gang plotted to steal vast quantities of fuel from North Wales depots

North Wales Live

5 days ago

Two members of an organised crime group were today jailed for plotting to steal fuel worth hundreds of thousands of pounds from UK depots - including on Anglesey, and in Deeside and Wrexham. They would arrange for accomplices to siphon fuel into containers at night before taking it away on trucks to be sold.
A judge today said the fuel had been "sloshing" about in unsafe containers and there could have been "catastrophic" consequences if anything had gone wrong.
Mohammad Anwar, 39, and brother in-law Khalid Mohammed, 43, who was known as "Boss", were convicted of conspiracy to steal between October 1, 2020 and April 22, 2022. Mohammed Anwar also laundered £400,000 from proceeds. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
His partner Alimar Bibi, 36, who also laundered illicit money, was found with designer clothes and handbags but claimed she had been "naive" about where the money came from, which the court accepted.
Prosecutor Ember Wong told Caernarfon Crown Court the organised crime group had stolen fuel "on a national scale" often at remote depots. It had been a sophisticated operation using multiple vehicles, cloned plates and electric pumps.
She described 16 thefts, some from Iceland's depot on Deeside. North Wales Police investigated and it "became clear" an organised crime group, based in Birmingham, was at work from Anglesey to Hampshire.
Ms Wong said there were in fact two fuel thefts at the Iceland depot on Deeside, on October 21 and October 22, 2020, when 13,181 litres were stolen by two accomplices - who have not been caught - of Anwar and Mohammed.
Afterwards Anwar sent a message to a "customer" to say "gonna get 30,000 (litres) dropped in the next two weeks" which was about the amount of the Deeside thefts.
The court also heard 19,822 litres of fuel were also stolen by Anwar and Mohammed's two accomplices from a depot in Sandycroft on December 8 and December 9, 2020. Spillages there cost £37,013 to clear up, said Ms Wong.
The accomplices then stole 54,501 litres of fuel from Servus Energy in Wrexham between March 6 to March 8, 2021. Proceeds from the sale of the fuel were later transferred to Alimar Bibi's account, as happened on other occasions.
Later in September 2021 the gang targeted GD Jones & Son on Anglesey. There they stole 32,000 litres of fuel worth £40,000.
Police found discrepancies in the defendants' finances. Ms Wong said Khalid Mohammed declared an income of £12,378 from one employer and £6,327 from another firm.
However bank statements during the conspiracy showed he was credited with £234,899. About £100,000 of that sum came from partner Bibi's account.
Bibi's tax figures indicated she had an official income from "A&B Car Hire" of £50,000 in 2020 to 2022. But bank statements showed £259,000 in her account. Police found designer goods at her home, the court heard.
Annabel Hale, for Mohammed Anwar, said he had been under financial pressure during Covid although accepted that is no excuse. There is another side to his character and he supports an orphanage in Pakistan, she added.
William Douglas-Jones, defending Khalid Mohammed, said he played an operational role rather than heading the group. He apologises.
He has a child and his mother is terminally ill. He is an enhanced prisoner and has been a "violence reduction orderly" while on remand.
Elroy Claxton, for Bibi, said she had been naive and is deeply ashamed. There had been "loyalty based on her cultural upbringing", he added.
The judge His Honour Timothy Petts said a large quantity of fuel had been "decanted" from depots into large plastic containers and transferred to lorries over 18 months across England and Wales.
But the consequences of unsafely transporting the fuel as it "sloshed" in plastic containers in lorries could have been "catastrophic". Victims were disrupted and at a financial loss but also had to bear clean up costs.
Mohammed Anwar, of Charles Road, East Handsworth, Birmingham, was jailed for five and a half years for conspiracy to steal. He also received five-year terms for each of two money laundering offences, to run concurrently.
Khalid Mohammed, of Hugh Road, Birmingham, was jailed for three years and two months for conspiracy to steal.
Alimar Bibi, of Terry Street, Dudley, was said to pose a low risk of re-offending and has three dependent children. She was given a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, for possession of criminal property and conspiring to transfer criminal property. North Wales Police said they did not have custody images of the defendants when asked by North Wales Live.