Man caught with £100,000 of cannabis in Stradishall claims drugs assets were gift from mum
A man caught with almost £100,000 worth of cannabis claims that assets police say were gained from his crimes and should be seized were a gift from his mother.
A man caught with almost £100,000 worth of cannabis claims that assets police say were gained from his crimes and should be seized were a gift from his mother.
Hanif Shakeri was jailed for 12 months last November after pleading guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply, careless driving and possession of criminal property.
Police found that Shakeri, 27, was storing a large quantity of cannabis, scales, plastic bags and seven mobile phones at his home at Home Farm, Stradishall, after he was detained for dangerous driving on December 13, 2011.
This week Shakeri, who was released from prison immediately after being sentenced because he had already spent 329 days on remand, returned to court for a hearing designed to recoup as much as possible of what he gained from his offending.
Specialist financial investigators have established that Shakeri has assets worth £455,000, said prosecutor Karl Volz and the value of the cannabis found at his property was £94,500.
However, Shakeri, who moved to the UK from his native Iran, is disputing that the source of his assets was criminal activity, said his barrister Lisa Freeman.
The court heard that Shakeri claims that following the death of his father, his mother had sold properties in Iran and transferred the proceeds to him through the National Bank of Iran and that accounted for the assets he now held in Britain.
Miss Freeman said that further bank documentation, which required translation, was to be presented to the court in support of Shakeri's claim.
Judge Ruper Overbury ruled that to give police time to establish the authenticity of those documents and consider the contents, the hearing should be adjourned until December.
http://www.haverhillecho.co.uk 28/09/2013
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