A Lamborghini-driving ‘TikTok lawyer’ who almost became an MP on a pro-Palestine ticket has denied money laundering ‘involving millions of pounds’ in cash.
Akhmed Yakoob, 37, was charged earlier this year for offences alleged to have taken place between February 18 2020 and January 8 2021.
He was accused of money laundering, encouraging money laundering, and failing to ensure customer due diligence measures in a business relationship.
Yakoob pleaded not guilty to the charges, alongside accountant Nabeel Afzal, 38, both from Birmingham, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday following a National Crime Agency probe.
The pair were released on unconditional bail but must return to court on July 15. If convicted, they could face up to 14 years in jail, the court heard.
Yakoob, a lover of fast cars and snazzy jewellery, is a criminal lawyer and a director at Maurice Andrews Solicitors in Birmingham.
His fleet of supercars has included a Rolls-Royce and a Lamborghini, though he now says he has ‘grown out of them’ after intensifying his focus on politics.
Yakoob entered the political fray last year when he announced he was taking on Conservative incumbent Andy Street in the West Midlands mayoral race in May.
Solicitor Akhmed Yakoob outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court, London, where he was charged with money laundering
Yakoob appeared smartly dressed to face charges of money laundering, encouraging money laundering, and failing to ensure customer due diligence measures in a business relationship
Other men dressed in suits surround Yakoob outside Court, with some even taking out their phone camera to film him
He ended up coming third, but won almost 70,000 votes as an independent who campaigned on a pro-Palestine ticket.
Yakoob then stood in Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s Birmingham Ladywood constituency in the last general election, coming second with 12,137 votes compared to her 15,558.
District Judge Briony Clark told Yakoob, of Perry Bar and Afzal, of Edgbaston, yesterday: ‘The matters you have indicated not guilty pleas to are matters that must be dealt with at the Crown Court.
‘You need to be at Southwark Crown Court no later than 9:30am – it is 15 July at 9:30am.
‘I am going to grant you both unconditional bail.’
In a post on X, Yakoob stated: ‘Money laundering occurs when criminal proceeds are used to portray legitimate businesses and also buy high value items such as cars, jewellery and real estate.’
He confirmed that on May 21 he was charged with offences ‘in relation to acquiring criminal property along with other offences’.
Yakoob, a director at Birmingham firm Maurice Andrews Solicitors, added: ‘I deny these offences completely. They are false. I am innocent.’
Yakoob is surrounded by men in suits as he faces money laundering charges. He previously stood in Shabana Mahmood’s constituency, coming second with 12,137 votes
Yakoob, a director at Birmingham firm Maurice Andrews Solicitors, has stated: ‘I deny these offences completely. They are false. I am innocent’
Yakoob’s fleet of supercars has included a Rolls-Royce and a Lamborghini, though he now says he has ‘grown out of them’ after intensifying his focus on politics
Afzal and Yakoob were both granted unconditional bail ahead of the plea and trial preparation hearing at Southwark Crown Court on July 15.
A father-of-four, Yakoob has four brothers and four sisters and was born in Birmingham in 1988 – his father having come to Britain from Pakistan in the 1970s.
He joined Maurice Andrews Solicitors in 2014, where he worked under the mentorship of Mr Andrews, the company’s director.
He has a huge following on TikTok where he complains about poor local bus services, unemployment, rubbish-strewn streets, lethally low NHS response times – and the conflict in Gaza .
His viral clips carry headline captions such as ‘NHS failure’, ‘Our streets are filthy’, and ‘They have done nothing’.
Yakoob was also at the centre of a controversy in July, when he represented two brothers involved in a brawl with police officers at Manchester Airport.
The lawyer travelled to Rochdale after he was contacted by the family when footage of Mohammed Fahir Amaz being apparently kicked and stamped on by a police officer went viral on social media.
He later stepped aside from the pair claiming the media had ‘made the situation about me rather than police brutality and police misconduct’.
