Man with £69m cheques at Durham Tees Valley Airport freed
14.05.08
A man who was stopped at Durham Tees Valley Airport trying to take fake cheques for £69m out of the country, walked free yesterday after he admitted charges connected with the forgeries.
Omar Mohammed, 50, from Coulby Newham, was arrested at the airport last October on his way to Egypt. He pleaded guilty to four charges of having false banker’s drafts and cheques in pounds and euros totalling £69,298,280 and was jailed for six months. However, he was immediately released because he had spent three months in prison as police investigated.
Mr Mohammed was detained under the 2000 Terrorist Act at the airport on October 12. He was travelling to Cairo via Amsterdam with two suitcases. The banker’s drafts and cheques were in a black toilet bag, which roused officers’ suspicions, prosecutor Shaun Dodds told Teesside Crown Court.
In a side pocket of the bag they found a cheque for £220,000 made payable to Mohammed Asali, which had been altered from a small amount. Mr Mohammed said that he was taking it to give to a friend, a Mr Hassan.
The rest of the documents were forgeries - a Bank of Ireland draft for €50 million payable to Zak Yamani, an HSBC draft for €850,000 payable to Mr El Sheikh and an AIB international cheque for €50 million payable to Mr Salami.
Tom Mitchell, defending, said that Mr Mohammed knew they were false. Judge George Moorhouse jailed him for six months.
In 2002, Mohammed, of Manorwood, Coulby Newham, was detained in a round-up of Al Qaeda suspects. They were all later released without charge and paid compensation by police.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book a durham tees valley airport hotel or durham tees valley airport car parking at the lowest price click on these links to durham tees valley airport parking and durham tees valley airport hotel price comparison websites.
