Blackmail plot postman ordered to repay £1m or spend another seven years in jail

Shaker Javaid was the bagman for a £5 million series of internet swindles with victims all over the world and sluiced £1.2 million through his own bank accounts.

He even enlisted a fellow postman who opened an account in his name which was used to launder tens of thousands of pounds.

Javaid was caught after police in Devon investigated complaints from foreign students at Exeter University they had been conned out of large deposits for accommodation which did not exist.

They paid money by international transfers to a company called Flashclaims which was traced to Javaid. Inquiries then uncovered a massive international web of deceit and blackmail.

Victims were lured into posting explicit pictures and then blackmailed or conned out of thousands by offers of unclaimed lottery prizes or bogus fees for loans which never materialised.

The total size of the operation is thought to be £5 million but it only became clear after Javaid and fellow postman Alex Stocks were found guilty of money laundering at Exeter Crown Court two years ago.

Javaid has now been brought back to court under the Proceeds of Crime Act, where he was ordered to pay more than £1,000,000.

Judge Erik Salomonsen, who jailed Javaid for seven years in 2014, ordered he should serve a further seven and a half years unless he repays the money within three months.

He ruled that Javaid had benefited from crime by £1,291,096.68 and his available assets are £1,186,046.24.

He said: “There are whole aspects of this case which I was not aware of at the trial.

“It seems the case we dealt with was the tip of a rather large iceberg.

“There were a significant number of victims and at the trial the court heard of the unpleasant nature of the conduct and mention of other shadowy figures who might have been involved. The total amount has been estimated at £5 but it has been agreed your benefit was £1,186,000 or so.”

Javaid, aged 34, of Albert Terrace, Preston, was originally convicted of conspiracy to launder money.

Mary McCarthy, prosecuting, said a 21 month Proceeds of Crime Act investigation had shown unexplained transfers to banks in France and Holland and “tainted gifts” amounting to tens of thousands of pounds.

She said the current whereabouts of the money are not known in full but it is hoped it would be returned so Javaid would avoid more jail time.

James Taghdissian, defending, said the order is not disputed.