Patel, Hanif

In July 2014, Hanif Patel was convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court of helping to set up a company in Poland to be used for criminal ends.

Some months after the company was set up, it was used to launder £5 million worth of property stolen in a cyber-attack on the Carbon Credits Registry in Prague.

The prosecution did not allege that Mr Patel had any role in the actual theft or in the disposal of the proceeds. Three co-defendants pleaded guilty to the charge.

In September 2014 Mr Patel was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Mr Patel’s application for leave to appeal against his conviction was rejected by the Court of Appeal in November 2015. In April 2020 Mr Patel applied to the CCRC for a review of his conviction.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would quash Mr Patel’s conviction on the grounds that the judge’s instructions to the jury did not include some important guidance.

This guidance was necessary due to legal issues associated with Poland, where the company was set up, which is outside the normal jurisdiction of the British courts.

The CCRC referred the conviction in November 2021.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in March 2022.