Cambridge Dr. Ehsan Jalebi, 38, Jailed for Laundering £2.5 million in Sweets Box

Dr. Ehsan Abdi-Jalebi, age 38, a former engineering student and Cambridge University academic who fraudulently claimed almost £2.5 million in government grants has been jailed for four years, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

He used faked documents to siphon off money into his own accounts from funding allocated to the development of renewable energy projects.



He was initially detained at Heathrow as he attempted to board a flight to Tehran in September 2015. Officers found £137,000 cash hidden inside his luggage and referred the case to the NCA.

However, Abdi-Jalebi was able to provide documents which showed the money was his and had been sourced legally, so he was allowed to proceed.

He was stopped again at Heathrow in December the same year, again carrying around £100,000 cash this time concealed inside chocolate boxes.



In May 2016 he attempted to leave the country carrying a large amount of cash, around £16,000, which was also detained.



He had made a series of grant applications to the government to fund research, but on a number of occasions Abdi-Jalebi had falsified documents, including invoices, accounts and bank statements to show what was happening to the money.



In total investigators found he had fraudulently claimed around £2.5m in grants. He he had withdrawn more than £820,000 in cash over a period of just under 4 years.



The money was used by Abdi-Jalebi to fund a lavish lifestyle that was well beyond the means of his legitimate income, including the purchase of a property near Cambridge and the lease of a Maserati sports car.


On Friday 21 December at Blackfriars Crown Court Abdi-Jalebi admitted 13 counts of forgery and was sentenced to four years in prison.