A BRADFORD jewellery business was at the centre of a "sophisticated" multi-million pound money laundering business, a court has heard.

Up to an estimated £2 million a day in cash was delivered to the premises of Fowler Oldfield in Hall Lane, Bowling, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Helen Longworth, prosecuting, said the Fowler Oldfield building was raided by police on September 8, 2016, and they seized its CCTV footage from the previous three weeks.

She said a number of individuals were filmed delivering cash which was then counted by employees and the couriers were given tokens.

The court was told one of those couriers was Hanan Ilyas, 33, of Langside, Glasgow, who admitted transferring £294,920 in cash on August 26, 2016, knowing or suspecting it to represent the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Mrs Longworth said police estimated that between £250,000 and £2m was deposited at the firm on a daily basis.

She said Ilyas was out of work and short of cash when he was asked if he was interested in a delivery job from Glasgow.

She said someone collected his car keys and drove off in his car, returning it with a full fuel tank and a mobile phone.

The court was told he received several calls and was directed to Fowler Oldfield.

Once there he pulled out six carrier bags full of cash from where they they had been concealed behind the seats and handed them over to staff who put them in a safe to be counted the next day.

Ilyas was given a $1 note as a token and told to make a note of the serial number.

Mrs Longworth said the CCTV footage obtained by police showed that the money was counted the next day and amounted to £294,920.

She said when he got home Ilyas threw away the phone and determined not to have anything more to do with the people who gave it to him.

She said the incident was part of ongoing money laundering procedure involving significant amounts but Ilyas was not the only courier and he was involved in just one incident on one day.

Robin Frieze, defending, admitted that his client performed a valuable service to those who recruited him but he made a detailed admission in his interview with police and was only involved as a courier on that one occasion.

He said: "He knew something wasn't right. They told him not to take his own phone and he suspects there was a tracker. He got into deep water which he didn't know how to get out of."

Sentencing Ilyas, Judge Colin Burn said: "You played a part in what looks like an extremely sophisticated method of laundering a very large amount of criminal proceeds.

"It's only the size of the cog in that machine that I have to consider today and it looks as if you were more than one step removed geographically and organisationally of the offending.

"You were talked into when you were short of cash but it became clear that there was no way you could back out."

He said that Ilyas feared for his family's safety as the people he dealt with had their details and he was put under strict supervision via the mobile phone to enable tracking.

He told Ilyas the offence deserved a custodial sentence but because he tried to distance himself from the operation he would give him a 16-month sentence suspended for two years with an unpaid work order of 240 hours to be completed within 12 months.

The Judge told Ilyas he will face a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act on January 31.