Trio Charged With Money-Laundering Plot

Charged: Jasmeet Bhatia

Two men, accused of a large-scale money-laundering fraud plot, have appeared for the first time at City of London Magistrates Court.

They are: Jasmeet Singh Bhatia, 30, of Lower Field Road, Reading and Fareed Mohammed, 33, of Huntly Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, who will both appear at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing on April 13.

A third defendant, Sobhanadreshwar Uppalapati, 31, of Rosebery Avenue, Manor Park, east London, who is unwell in India had his bail extended to appear at the magistrates court on April 9.

All three are charged with conspiring to defraud between June 25 and December 28, 2012 by transferring money electronically between bank accounts, knowing or suspecting it represented the proceeds of criminal conduct.

They are also all charged with acquiring, using or possessing criminal property between the same dates, namely £186,058.

Bhatia alone is charged with conspiring to conceal criminal property between the same dates, namely £45,730 and both Mohammed and Uppalapati face the same charge in relation to £157,902.