Posted on 04/09/2008 6:23:08 PM PDT by LSUfan
A founding member of a Bradford mosque has been jailed with his co-conspirator for their part in the kidnapping of a Pakistani businessman. Rehmat Awan was yesterday jailed for seven years for conspiracy to commit blackmail and Masood Sarwar sentenced to six years for the same offence after admitting trying to extort £400,000 from the family of a man kidnapped at gunpoint and held for 15 days in Pakistan.
Prosecutor Paul Mitchell told Leeds Crown Court: "The victim of the kidnap, Sabir Mughal, was held prisoner for 15 days and only released after his brother, Mohammed Zaman paid over £200,000 on the instructions of his captors." He said Sarwar, 51, had a "crucial role" in extorting the money from Mr Zaman – acting in close concert with the kidnappers in Pakistan and taking delivery of the ransom money, which had been collected by family and friends.
Awan, 55, of Toller Grove, Heaton, Bradford, who had known Mr Mughal's family for years, played a different role.
Mr Mitchell said: "He posed as a concerned friend of the Bradford family and insinuated himself into the group that raised the ransom money and organised its delivery.
"All the time he was in secret contact with Sarwar and working with the criminals to ensure that the plot was a successful one."
Awan had known Mr Zaman, who lives in Bradford, for 30 years and the two were previously business partners.
Sarwar, of Woodford Green, Essex, had lived in the Bradford area and was known to Mr Zaman from then, the court heard.
Mr Mughal, was snatched at gunpoint on his way from his home in Mirpur to the shop he owned in a nearby town in February 7, 2007, before being blindfolded and drugged and driven to an unknown location in the boot of a car.
The court heard how he woke up chained by the leg to a bed and was told that his brother in England had to pay for his release or he would be shot.
The kidnappers hoped to extort £400,000, but the plot was foiled after Mr Zaman contacted family friend Jawaid Akhtar, who is an assistant chief constable in West Yorkshire Police.
The force teamed up with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) to monitor all developments with the full co-operation of Mr Zaman and his family.
Surveillance in London led to the arrest of Sarwar who was seen taking the ransom money from a third party. A total of £236,000 was handed over and it was all recovered once Mr Mughal had been released safely.
Judge Shaun Spencer QC said the case had elements of "gangsterism" about it.
Speaking after the hearing, Detective Superintendent Paul Taylor, of West Yorkshire Police, said the operation involved hundreds of officers working together in the first operation of its kind since Soca was formed.
He said: "We have had meetings with police in Mirpur and I have handed over documentation they are working with, with a view to investigating offences over there."
Speaking through an interpreter after the hearing, Mr Mughal, 47, said he feared for his life as he was held by an armed guard in a darkened room throughout his ordeal.
The father-of-five, who has two children living in Bradford, said he was a "changed man" since the kidnapping which had left him in constant fear and suffering sleepless nights.
Andrew Penhale, of the CPS Organised Crime division, said: "The gunpoint kidnap of Sabir Mughal and subsequent blackmail must have been an extraordinarily traumatic experience for the family. It was courageous of them to immediately alert the authorities."
Ping.
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