A convicted money launderer has been ordered to hand over £50,000 which was found stuffed in carrier bags as part of a long-running investigation.

Muhammad Islam, 53, of Topsham Road, London, who was forced to pay a previous confiscation order in July, has just been ordered by a court to hand over a further £56,570 after being found guilty of money laundering.

The order - which was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act - was made at Wycombe Magistrates' Court on November 1 and relates to cash that was found stuffed in two carrier bags and seized by police. 

The money laundering scam was uncovered after police pulled over a vehicle on the M40 in Denham with tens of thousands of pounds of “contaminated” cash.

On October 7 2014, police officers pulled over a silver Honda. The only person in the vehicle was 25-year-old Muhammed Mansur Ahmad, of Topsham Road, London.

Police said he was insured to drive the car but was not the registered keeper.

On searching the vehicle, officers found two carrier bags with cash totalling £56,080, which had traces of cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines.

Ahmad was arrested on suspicion of money laundering. He said he lived in Topsham Road, London, which was owned and occupied by Muhammed Islam, 53, and his wife, Saima Shahzadi, 38.

Officers searched the address and found a shoebox in the tumble dryer containing banking paperwork, cash bundle tags and bank details written on pieces of paper.

More bank deposit receipts and bank deposit envelope stubs were also found in the property.

Islam was arrested on October 10 2014. He denied knowledge of the cash found in the car. He told police he employed Ahmad at the shop, though he did not know him that well.

Ahmad’s mobile phone was examined by detectives and was found to have pictures of bank receipts on it, proving that deposits had been made.

Police said according to this evidence, Ahmad had banked a total of £96,135 between May 27 2014 and September 30 2014.

The bank deposit receipts and envelope stubs found at Topsham Road showed that “large sums” of money were being paid into several different bank accounts during a very short period of time – according to these it appeared that at least £233,661 in cash had been deposited at various banks between September 23 2014 and October 7 2014.

Police said many of the envelope deposit stubs were not dated and feared the amount could have been higher.

They said they also found “unexplained” money transfers from Ahmad to his alleged employer Islam of £37,827.

Ahmad absconded while on bail and has not been found since, but both Islam and his wife Shahzadi were jailed earlier this year.

At that time the judge then found that Islam had benefitted from his criminal activity to the value of £279,573.66.

The bench found that there was credible evidence to suggest the money was either recoverable property or about to be used in crime and Islam to hand over the entire sum. 

It follows another order for more than £279,000 as part of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which was made on July 28.

Detective Inspector Gavin Tyrrell, head of Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “This was a complex investigation where our financial investigators had to follow the paper trails of bank deposits but were not given credible reasons for the deposits.

“No reasons were also given for why Ahmad, who was apparently an employee of Islam, paid his employer more than £37,000. Nor was it clear why all the paperwork surrounding these transactions were moved to the tumble dryer after police arrived to search the property.

“Money laundering is a serious crime and anyone found guilty of it should expect to pay heavily for their offences.”