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Former MP candidate charged with money laundering

BBC Akhmed Yakoob wearing a suit and glasses. He has short dark hair and is smiling. He has a red tie and is wearing a brown and white patterned scarf as well as a green, white and red one underneathBBC
Akhmed Yakoob stood as an Independent candidate in the West Midlands mayoral election and the general election in 2024

A Birmingham lawyer and former political candidate has been charged with money laundering offences, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Akhmed Yakoob, 37, who stood as an Independent candidate in the West Midlands mayoral election and the general election in 2024, was charged on Wednesday along with accountant Nabeel Afzal, 38.

They were each charged with three offences - money laundering, encouraging money laundering and contravening a requirement to apply customer due diligence measures when establishing a business relationship.

Mr Yakoob, of Perry Barr, and Mr Azfal, of Edgbaston, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 17 June.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 18 February 2020 and 8 January 2021.

West Midlands Police declined to comment and said it was a matter for the NCA.

Mr Yakoob, dubbed the "TikTok lawyer", unsuccessfully stood in Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood's Birmingham Ladywood constituency in the general election in 2024, coming second.

He previously came third in the West Midlands mayoral election with 69,621 votes.

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