Fraudster who found properties for drug and prostitution gangs is jailed

'Put simply, these crime groups could not do what they do without his services.'

A Chinese national who used fake identities to rent out properties used as brothels and cannabis farms by crime gangs has been jailed for seven years and four months.

Feng Xu, from Birmingham worked as an ‘enabler’ for people traffickers and drug dealers, securing 446 sites for them to use across the UK.

He was also linked to a stash of 31 different false or fraudulent Chinese or Portuguese passports and £94,000 cash found in a secure storage unit.

Xu, 43, managed to evade police by moving from one property to the next using one of his many fake identities.

Whenever police caught wind of one of the flats the crooks had scarpered long before officers kicked down the door.

But justice eventually caught up with him in May when NCA investigators raided his Birmingham home.

Investigators discovered the fraudster had up to 10 bank accounts which he used to process £4.2 million in rent and admin charges since starting his enterprise in late 2015.

Xu pleaded guilty to 22 different offences including fraud and money laundering at Birmingham crown Court in October.

After serving his sentence he will face deportation, having lived illegally in Britain since 2000 after entering the country in 1996 as a student.

Commenting after the case, NCA branch commander Martin Grace said: ‘We believe that this case goes way beyond one man.

‘In taking Xu out we will have caused significant disruption to a number of different organised crime groups involved in prostitution, people smuggling and drug production.

‘While he wasn’t necessarily involved in those types of offences himself, he was an important enabler for those who were.

‘Put simply, these crime groups could not do what they do without his services.

‘This investigation has been supported by dozens of police forces across the UK and Immigration Enforcement, and we are hugely grateful for that assistance.’