This piece results from news I received about a court case in Sussex. I started digging, and it got to be like peeling an onion. Perhaps not pleasant, but there you go, that’s life.
Obviously I won’t comment on the case itself, or the proceedings. What I’ll do is look at the fascinating connections the accused man has across southern Wales.
And wondering how to make sense of it all. Any and all suggestions welcome.
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WORKING BACKWARDS
The case I was directed to began at Lewes Crown Court in Sussex last Monday. A Syrian, living in Swansea, was charged with bringing people from Vietnam into the country illegally, through Newhaven.
Here’s how the incident was originally reported in February.
The man’s name is Anas al Mustafa, and in a previous report, his address was given as ‘Heather Crescent, Swansea’. This is on the Sketty Park estate, the road running from Sketty Park Drive up to the flats.
As you might guess, Swansea being my home town, I got to wondering about him.
My source had directed me to the Companies House website, and the company A & T Food Transport Ltd. Which made sense, seeing as the latest news report mentioned ‘a refrigerated van’.
There seem to be a number of addresses linked to this company, in Swansea and Cardiff; with Anas al Mustafa also taking us to Bedwas. So let’s see what it all tells us.
UPDATE: Anas al Mustafa was found guilty and will be sentenced on September 6.
UPDATE September 6: Anas al Mustafa was jailed for 10 years.
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A & T FOOD TRANSPORT LTD
The address given for the company is 22 Caepistyll Street, which links Carmarthen Road with Llangyfelach Street, running past St Joseph’s Cathedral primary school.
There have been three directors. The man on trial in Sussex. Who is described as British. He resigned 29.09.2023. A Swedish citizen named Mohammad Mustafa al Mustafa, who might be a kinsman. He joined the company 22.11.2023. And Ahmad Farhan Hudad, who filled in between one al Mustafa leaving and the other joining.
The property in Caepistyll Street used as the company address is owned by the Coastal Housing Group, which I believe is the biggest housing association in Swansea. Here’s the property title document.
It seems that Muhammad al Mustafa from Sweden now lives in Caepistyll St. Is he the registered tenant? What do the Coastal Housing rules say about running a business from its properties?
And come to that, how does a citizen of a wealthy country like Sweden qualify for social housing in Wales?
And although the accused’s address is given in the media as being in Sketty Park, on the Companies House entry both he and Hudad give their address as 52 Ceri Road, Townhill. Which, as the title document confirms, is owned by Swansea council.
I have the exact address for Heather Crescent, where the company was based until October 12, 2023, and where the accused is said to live, but this property is privately owned and I’m assuming there’s no connection between the owners and those who probably rented it. So we’ll leave that there.
Let’s end this section by reminding ourselves that the arrested man, Anas al Mustafa, left A & T Food Transport at the end of September last year. The company is now run by the Swedish citizen I believe to be related, Mohammad al Mustafa.
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THE THIRD MAN
As I’ve said, the third director of the Swansea company was Ahmad Farhan Hudad. He seems to have been holding the fort during the interregnum.
Hudad has been involved in two other companies.
One being Amana Accountant Ltd. This company also uses the Ceri Road address. Does Swansea council have rules about running businesses from council houses?
There was never much to speak of in terms of money in this company until the accounts for y/e 31.01.2024 showed £50,000 appearing as intangible assets. (Later in the accounts described as ‘goodwill’.)
The second company is Pure General Trading Ltd. The other director here is Hiwa Mohammed Salman Amin. He gives as his address the new company address on the Enterprise Park in Llansamlet. To be exact, Unit 1, Aber Court, off Ferryboat Close.
There’s no money in this company, it files as dormant.
These Llansamlet properties are owned by Swansea council and this particular unit was leased in March 1981 for 75 years. So it’s presumably rented from the lessor.
But Pure General Trading began life, in May last year, at 83 Mansel Street, just out of the city centre, a scruffy property next-door to a nail bar.
No 83 is either being rented or, if it’s been sold, then the records haven’t been updated with the Land Registry.
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THE CARDIFF CONNECTION
If we turn to the Certificate of Incorporation for A & T Food Transport Ltd we see the company’s address given as being in St Mellons.
While Anis al Mustafa, the founding director, gives his address as 224 Whitchurch Road.
This Whitchurch Road property is owned by Somarz Properties LLP. Here’s the title document. Somarz seems to buy up property in and around Cardiff.
Though there’s a strange pattern to the dealings. If we check the Charges, we see that nineteen were delivered from the Principality Building Society on November 5, 2019 (one on Nov 4).
Nothing then until four were delivered in July 2022 from Arbuthnot Latham and Co (two of which were satisfied the same month), then a gap of two years until two more were delivered last month from Ultimate Bridging Finance Ltd.
But I’m having trouble making sense of it. Let me explain.
If we look at the latest (filleted) accounts for Somarz Properties LLP, to March 30, 2023, we see a massive jump in the value of ‘investments’ from the previous year. An increase of some £14.5m.
Yet, to go by the charges registered with Companies House, the only acquisition in that period was 131A Cyncoed Road. (The smaller property at the front.) And nice though Cyncoed might be, there’s no way a house on someone’s drive runs to £14.5m.
One possibility is that this windfall came from Zafar Malik, who seems to have died late in 2022, and who I assume was related to the current Partners. He was not a good landlord. Or a good neighbour.
As I’ve said before, Limited Liability Partnerships can be used to hide a multitude of sins. And very often do.
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AND SO TO BEDWAS
I’ve spent some happy hours in Bedwas, my Best Man hailed from there. Hell of a boy, Dai. Dead now.
He once told me a truly weird story from his youth, about sharing a police cell with former politician Ron Davies. It was somewhere in eastern England, typical Valleys boys on tour sort of thing. Struggling now to remember the details. Wish I could ask him.
Anyway, the man we began this tale with, the man on trial in Sussex, was also involved with a company in Bedwas. The company is still in existence, and it’s called A & B Marble Ltd.
There were two directors to begin with, the other one being Bilal Mahmoud Abou Isha. This company was launched March 4, 2020, at Aftab Foroze Consultancies Ltd in Bristol, with share capital of £10,000 split equally between the two directors.
I couldn’t find A & B at the address given, Unit B4, Pantglas Farm Industrial Estate. But at that address we do find Royal Marble. All explained by the fact that A & B Marble trades as Royal Marble. Which throws up another query.
A & B Marble Ltd is just over 4 years old, but the Royal Marble website tells us:
With over 20 years of experience, Royal Marble offers the highest quality quartz, granite and marble stone in the region.
So what was the registered company name for Royal Marble before A & B Marble?
But then the Royal Marble Facebook page says:
With over 25 years of experience, Royal Marble has offered the highest quality Quartz, Granite & Marble stone in the region.
To confuse matters further, there’s another website, this time for ‘Royal Kitchen Designs‘, explained thus:
Royal Kitchen Designs is a family-owned business, born out of the success of its sister company, Royal Marble, also in Bedwas, Caerphilly.
There’s something not right about these websites and FB page. They smack of ‘library images’, or even AI. They lack the human touch. Also lacking names.
And again, there’s little in the way of money or assets showing in the accounts, Despite all that expensive material on site and claiming to employ 5 or 6 people.
Before getting into the fitted kitchen business Abou Isha had a catering company in Neath called Damasspice Ltd, which lasted just a couple of years. It filed just one set of accounts, as a dormant company.
When Anas al Mustafa left A & B Marble he was replaced by another Syrian, Awad Mohammad Almobarack. Then he left A & B Marble in December 2021, and has surfaced again starting up two companies over in Pontypool earlier this year.
So we have a company in Bedwas that’s been going for 20 years (or is it 25), but it’s unclear under which flag it was sailing for most of that time because A & B Marble didn’t exist before March 2020.
In fact, a cynic might wonder if A & B Marble of Bedwas was formed solely to get a loan from the Development Bank of Wales. (Didn’t I mention that!)
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CONCLUSION
So many short-lived companies, with virtually no money or assets showing in the accounts (apart from one), and constant changes of address and personnel, can often look suspicious.
And so many different types of business. Such a multi-talented crew merits the title I’ve given this piece.
There’s even a sort of pattern, in that two guys form a company, then go their separate ways and recruit someone else for a new company, then it’s a case of rinse and repeat.
Virtually all those involved are Syrian. Making it reasonable to assume a Syrian link to these companies. But what is that link, and how does it operate?
And then there’s the question of how those involved managed to get social housing so easily. Did they claim to be refugees? Or did they say they was local boys, like?
And how much due diligence was undertaken by that respected institution, the Development Bank of Wales, before lending to A & B Marble Ltd?
Finally, those who preach Nation of Sanctuary, and demand open borders, really need to grow up and consider the real world consequences of being so ‘progressive’.
♦ end ♦
© Royston Jones 2024
AFD have won in one of the Bundesländer and even the Daily Mail has gone all reductio ad Hitlerum…
Because they cannot address the real issues. Their masters won’t let them.
AfD have performed well because existing ruling regimes have neglected the issues that most adversely affect their communities. No point some top Minister blabbing on about “investment” if the folks on the ground are just offered low paid work or no work at all. Like here in Wales young East Germans suffer a competitive housing situation, over priced and tilted in favour of recent “arrivals”. If governments can’t see or refuse to address the real problems then they are providing low hanging fruit for likes of AfD, who by the way are not the rabid Nazis they are made out to be, just a bit tolerant of some fringe nutters like UK Labour used to be towards Momentum.
I found two things very interesting about the German state election results other than the vote for AfD.
First, the parties of the coalition currently ruling the country did very, very poorly. Each of the three got less than 10% of the vote. They are dreading the next federal elections.
Also, the rise of a new party of the left, the BSW, that is also very cool on immigration, and finished third in both states. It looks like an old-fashioned leftist party that prioritises the interests of the working class, and can see that they’re losing out. BSW also out of step on other issues, even being accused of being pro-Putin.
AfD and BSW doing relatively well suggests that German politics is more in tune with how people see “real needs” as opposed to “ishoos” and other distractions like being nice to boyzinfrox, or hiding backhanders to donors.
The trial is now over.
Anas Al Mustafa has been found guilty of smuggling seven migrants into the UK in the hidden compartment of a vehicle on a cross-Channel ferry. In response the border security minister Angela Eagle said “Our new Border Security Command will work with partners across Europe to smash the business models of the criminal smuggling gangs and halt their activities long before they reach the UK”.
The first call of this new Border Security Command should be Swansea. Who? Where? Why? What? How? People smuggling journeys have an origin and a destination as well as a driver.
Exactly. This was not a one-man operation.
So Mustafa will get locked up for a while in over crowded accommodation where he will meet like minded geezers who will share experience and expertise so he can refine his business when he gets out. Better to have shipped him to a new home a few thousand miles away. Like Syria ?
Surely this is something our Senedd Members should be asking about, as some small part of it concerns the devolved issue of Social Housing allocations being abused. Maybe I’ll contact my Regional Members of the Senedd for Swansea, Luke Fletcher and Sioned Williams, if they are willing to do a thorough scrutiny of this situation. Do you, Jac ,think they are up to it?
Not a hope in hell.
Jac, you say that a loan was raised from the Development Bank of Wales. Do you know if the money is still about? It could, probably, is a money laundering scam.
No idea. There’s no way of finding out.
A couple of minor points:
I’m not sure that 20 or 25 years of experience means that they had the same company in the same country for that time. They could have had previous experience before moving to the UK.
I believe Syria is noted for certain types of marble.
If you set up a business called Cwmtawe Thermonuclear Devices, and the pigeon cot at the bottom of the garden of your council house is making suspicious ticking noises, then people might be a tad concerned; but otherwise I see no reason why you can’t run a business from a council house or a housing association property. Instead of speculating you could phone them up and ask.
Ifor! Trust you to think the best of everybody . . . except me.
And who told you about Cwmtawe Thermonuclear Devices? It’s supposed to be a secret.
You really think they will give you an answer if you just phone up and ask?
Nothing sounds legit about any of this. Just another story of a ‘refugee’ gaming our all too generous system.
I sent an e-mail last Friday to Royal Marble in Bedwas asking what the relationship is with A & B Marble Ltd. No reply yet.
Not to infer your pal had such proclivities, but Ron Davies in a jail cell always results in one particular default assumption as to why he’s there…
No, nothing like that.
Badger spotting?
No, nothing like that.
Looks dodgy A.F.
Worthy of a SAR (Suspicious Activity Report) to the National Crime Agency – although I don’t have any particular faith in them.
Anyway, good work!
I agree, it looks might dodgy. Let’s wait and see what comes out at the trial.
The BBC tells us that “When questioned by police, Mr Al Mustafa said when he was last in Syria in January”.
This suggests that he is not alienated by the resurgent Assad regime and can travel there at will. The current, and longstanding, Foreign Office travel advice is “If you are a British national in Syria, leave the country by any practical means”. Mr Anas al Mustafa, formally a Syrian who has now acquired British citizenship it is dangerous to go there. It also raises questions of how he acquired British citizenship, possibly as a refugee, and what is his current need is to return on visits to Syria with the blessing of the regime.
It may relate to his alleged people smuggling, so we await to outcome of his trail.
I missed the bit about his return to Syria. Thanks for reminding us.
The question that might provide many answers is – was this time he got caught his first run?
Suspect that the National Crime Agency are not in the business of intercepting the boats as that’s the job for coastguard, at sea, and the roles of the UKBA at ports to uncover clandestines. NCA are charged with cracking the smuggling gangs. Bringing to justice those onshore operators, launder the money launderers and those who keep their quarry in indentured labour. This may well involve surveillance. However, they would have to step in if life is in danger such as these Vietnamese in transit suffocating in a hidden chamber of a van. Not all evidence (intelligence) need be presented to a court, just that which secures a conviction. Unlikely the boss of a people smuggling cartel lives in a council house in Swansea. What intrigues me is how alleged people smugglers manage to get social housing in the city and was South Wales the destination for exploitation of these victims?
That’s one thing that gave me food for thought – would authorities have been interested if these Vietnamese hadn’t been heard by ordinary members of the public?
As for the destination of these Vietnamese, I’m sure I read somewhere that they were men, which would rule out the usual route to ‘nail bars’ and the like. Possibly tending marijuana plants?
As for the social housing element, the allocation system is a shambles, with locals very often at the back of the queue. And if you claim to be a ‘refugee’, which I’m sure these Syrians did, thenn the red carpet would be laid out. (Though it would soon be nicked up in Townhill.)
The accused’s return to Syria in January stinks, for a number of reasons. If true, then it’s obviously safe for him to go home. If not true, then what’s the real story. Is this mysterious bloke he claims to have met in Syria the one who asked him to drive a van to Liverpool for MOT? Why? If true, then either we have a garage just writing out MOTs without real checks, or there was some other reason for the trip.
Everything about this guy and his associates stinks.
I’d be interested to know where in the pecking order for social housing military veterans come. Now I’m always going to argue for local people with connections to come top of the list over some blow-in with no roots to speak of because he did a job and was paid for it. But I’d obviously place a British Serviceman over someone from who-knows-where.
Whilst I obviously respect the bravery of anyone who’s served and seen frontline action, I think the state should really be looking after them afterwards, without this U.S. style sense of collective guilt/debt owed by society.
The pecking order is whatever some jobsworth decides it is with each case. You could be top of the list, bags packed – and then some ‘special case’ turns up from over the border, and you can start unpacking.
The Housing Wales Act 2014 gives priority to social housing for veterans. Similar legislation exists in Scotland. It works on the medical record being handed back to NHS Wales from the MoD. If the MoD stint of six months or more this donates a veteran. MoD don’t comment on deployment. This priority does not exist in England where they wave Union Jacks yet leave soldiers on the streets.
I wonder whether the Fleet Street press have drawn attention to a Scottish Nationalist Devolved Government prioritising BRITISH Servicemen in housing allocation. It’d be a bit against type of the caricature presented that believers in Scottish independence are avatars of Bobby Sands or Eamon de Valera to a man.
Obviously in-migration of English people to Wales is not something that needs the dial turning up on for obvious reasons, but I’d rather an ex-serviceman from anywhere in the UK who’s put his life on the line be given a decent home than some local pot-smoking dosser. 6 months in barracks or behind a desk though, no, fuck right off.
I know quite a few refugees who now have indefinite leave to remain,they regularly go back to their countries.. This is the bit that gets me every time
Not really refugees then are they ? Or are they some sort of freedom fighters “sponsored” by Brit agencies on the quiet ? I think not. Most likely they are engaging in some undisclosed activity which would get them prosecuted either here or in their state of origin, or both.