November 22, 2023
The final member of a global black market anabolic steroid manufacture and distribution network was ordered on Friday 17 Nov to hand over assets following a financial investigation by the NCA and CPS.
Mohammed Afzal, aged 39, of Belgrave Road in Slough was sentenced to two years in prison in November 2019 after being found guilty of conspiring to manufacture anabolic steroids. He was one of five men convicted after an NCA and CPS investigation, which began in 2014, identified illegal shipments totalling around 42 tonnes linked to the group.
The raw powder would be shipped by an Indian-based pharmaceutical company to the UK, where it would be converted into liquid form in labs run by Mr. Afzal, and then sold to body builders and fitness fanatics on the black market.
Mr. Afzal initially claimed to only have around £100,000 in assets, but NCA and CPS financial investigators were able to identify further assets and a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order was made for Mr. Afzal’s assets worth £9.825 million.
A default sentence of 10 years was imposed. Proceeds of crime totalling almost £12 million have now been recovered from the criminal gang.
Cameron Brown KC has considerable knowledge and experience of internal investigations by the leading prosecuting agencies and has specialist knowledge of confiscation applications arising in financial crime investigations/ prosecutions. He was instructed by the NCA and the CPS and led Ben Holt of 5KBW. Read more: [Cameron Brown KC Profile]
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Cameron Brown KC
Call: 1998 | Silk: 2020