A Birmingham man who played a key role in a gang that laundered £23.4 million of dirty cash into cryptocurrency has been jailed.
Carlos Zapata, 58, also known as Zia Chowdhury and John Galt, of Baldwins Lane, Hall Green, was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
The illicit operation was headed by Michael Konnor, 27, and Shiraz Khan, 47. Together with John Geddes, 76, and Zapata, the gang moved cash for organised crime groups between January 2018 and June 2020, providing key links to Irish and Kurdish criminal networks.
The men laundered money through personal and business bank accounts before transferring it to third-party cryptocurrency traders. Even after their arrest in December 2019, Konnor and Khan continued to launder more than £4.5 million, adapting their tactics to cover their tracks by using companies, bank and crypto accounts in the names of third parties.
They exchanged incriminating messages on the encrypted communications network EncroChat, discussing cash collections linked to kidnap, extortion and drug dealing. One message sent in April 2020 to Khan, who used the handle MuteOrchid, read: “The truth is he will not want to pay. He will only pay cos we will have his son. Basically, he will be kidnapped and released when money hits account. His son is his weakness.”
Following a nine-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, Khan, Geddes and Zapata were convicted. Konnor pleaded guilty on February 18, 2026. Khan, of Edgehill Road, London, received an 11-year sentence; Geddes, of Sedgwick Park, Horsham, West Sussex, was jailed for six years and six months; and Konnor, of Braund Avenue, Ealing, London, was imprisoned for four years and six months.
Margaret Mousley, Deputy Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “The messages exchanged by this gang shows the link between money laundering and the serious and organised criminals that bring misery to our communities. Even after they were arrested this brazen gang continued to collect cash from other criminals and tried to cover their tracks by converting it into cryptocurrency. These sentences should serve as a warning that we have the skills and resources to investigate complex money laundering cases and will bring those responsible to justice.”
Giorgina Venturella, Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS, said: “These men laundered money on behalf of gangs. Despite the cash seizure, arrest and searches, the money laundering operation continued. Cash continued to be collected, monies paid into and transferred between bank accounts, and cryptocurrency purchased. Konnor and Khan evolved their modus operandi in an effort to avoid further law enforcement attention, utilising the encrypted medium of Encrochat to communicate regarding the organising of cash collections, bank transfers and Bitcoin purchases. By taking down this group, HMRC and the CPS have disrupted a multi-million-pound international criminal enterprise. The CPS will be applying to confiscate the proceeds of these defendants’ crimes.”
Action to recover the proceeds of crime has been launched.
