Firos El Kotob, Bipin Thapa, Gopali Dahl, Manminder Singh: inside $100m money laundering scheme

Codes written on $5 notes, hundreds of thousands of dollars counted in hotel rooms and a detailed commission system for “clients” were revealed in a mega $100m laundering ring.

On the surface, they seemed to be legitimate security companies subcontracting to well-known businesses across Sydney and cleaning companies importing goods from overseas.

But underneath, they were anything but legitimate.

For the first time, NewsLocal can reveal the inner workings of an elaborate money laundering scheme in which $100m of dirty money was sent to mostly Chinese bank accounts between January 2018 and April 2019.

The web of fraud, lies and deceit took a hit in late 2018 when banks began to suspect criminal activity and closed some of the accounts, but the group bounced back. Police caught on soon enough and intercepted thousands of texts, phone calls and in-person conversations with audio and video recording devices. It all came undone on April 29, with the arrest of one of the ringleaders, Firos El Kotob.

Let’s break down each of the key players, their roles and their punishment as the last of them learn their fate. There is no suggestion any of the players mentioned individually dealt with $100m, but rather the joint criminal enterprise collectively dealt with that amount over 15 months.

Firos El Kotob

In January 2018, Firos El Kotob reached an agreement where he would gather large sums of money from his associates and give them to a co-offender (who cannot be named for legal reasons), who would deposit them into various bank accounts and then transfer them to accounts in China disguised as payments for business imports.

Fast-forward 4.5 years and 46-year-old Kotob was sentenced in Downing Centre District Court to six years and three months jail for playing a leading role in the syndicate.

According to facts tendered to court, the former Bankstown restaurant owner would provide the details of the Chinese accounts to the co-offender, who would receive a 1-2 per cent commission for each transfer.

With the help of co-accused Gopali Dahl, Bipin Thapa and Manminder Singh – among others – an associate would deposit cash into corporate bank accounts controlled by them, transferring the money between accounts to make them seem legitimate. Eventually the money would end up in China using Sydney-based money remittance agencies.

Detectives arrested a man at Guildford West during the raids.

Whenever one of Kotob’s “clients” wanted their money sent to China, Kotob gave detailed instructions to an associate about the amounts to be transferred and the specific accounts to be credited. Kotob would receive a monthly allowance of $7,600 from the unnamed offender per month, as well as any “client fees”. The crown submitted there was no evidence to suggest Kotob sent his own money overseas.

Text messages included in the facts showed dozens of exchanges between Kotob andan associate referencing the money collections.

In late September, 2018, Kotob wrote: “Can U pick up yr money and extra … from Bankstown … @ 9:15am sharp … we have a lot of work … we have a lot of cash coming”.

On December 19, a message from the associate read: “we need at least 500-600k tomorrow, by 9:30am, so we can transfer by 11:30am”. Kotob replied: “Done”.

Kotob pleaded guilty to and was convicted of four counts of dealing with proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000 as well as one count of receiving suspected proceeds of crime more than $100,000.

Kotob will be eligible for parole on May 8, 2026.

He was also ordered to pay the state of NSW $98,800 as a penalty for benefiting from criminal activity.

Bipin Thapa

Bipin Thapa (right) and his wife. Picture: Facebook

Bipin Thapa, from Auburn, was employed by co-accused Gopali Dahl and an associate as an account manager for one of the security businesses in July 2018, but facts state his involvement in the enterprise began five months earlier.

Following the registration of several security and cleaning companies, multiple business accounts were opened. The 32-year-old helped an associate run these accounts, contact money remitters and withdraw funds.

On one occasion in late March 2019, Thapa and an associate flew from Sydney to Melbourne — with 20 express deposit bags in hand — where he collected a massive $590,970 from a third party, the facts read.

As they set off, Kotob sent a message to an associate, saying “$100k ready now”.

As a form of secret code, Thapa and the person he was collecting the cash from would each send a text message with a photo of a $5 note with a unique serial number.

Little did they know, police were listening in to the phone call as an associate asked Thapa to get a money counting machine from the Enterprise Car Wash at Melbourne Airport.

Police seized piles of cash after they arrested Kotob

Thapa and his associate went to a hotel where they spent 40 minutes counting the cash and placed it into deposit bags, before flying back to Sydney, the facts read.

ANZ records show $380,970 was deposited into an account on 28 March, 2019, while Thapa brought the rest back with him to Sydney. Another $180 was deposited into the same account the next day, and $30,000 more on April 1, totalling $590,970.

Reflecting the meticulous and elaborate nature of the enterprise, the unknown offender updated the running balance on April 9 by deducting $950 for flights and accommodation from Thapa’s Melbourne trip. Kotob objected to the deduction in addition to the usual commission, but later agreed to cover the cost.

The facts state there were even cash collections in other countries, including New Zealand.

Thapa pleaded guilty to- and was convicted of- two counts of dealing with proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000 as well one count of receiving suspected proceeds, money or property worth more than $100,000.

He was sentenced to two years in prison to be served in the community by way of intensive corrections order.

Gopali Dahl

Gopali Dahl. Picture: Facebook

Gopali Dahl joined the syndicate in January 2018, according to the facts. She helped an associate process illegitimate funds received from Kotob.

Dahl was the sole shareholder or director of a number of companies whose bank accounts were used in the enterprise between January and September 2018.

She was also a sole or joint signatory with an associate on several bank accounts.

Dahl earlier told the court she was manipulated and coerced into participating in the scheme by an associate.

After a matter of months of meeting the person online, the court heard an associate convinced her to move to from the Gold Coast to Sydney to “help” with a security company which serviced high profile locations, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

She told the court her dealings with this person were very fast-paced, volatile, forceful and at times abusive. She said they “instructed” her to open a number of other businesses in her name and restricted her from speaking about certain things with her family.

Dahl, from Murwillumbah in far northeastern NSW, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of two counts of dealing with proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000.

The 34-year-old was sentenced to two years and 10 months in person to be served in the community by way of intensive corrections order.

Manminder Singh

When a number of the corporate accounts used to front the fraud were closed by banks following an investigation, a money remittance agency which an associate had been using withdrew its services.

A month later, Singh, from Westmead, offered to help salvage the criminal ring by agreeing to open three companies in his name, with associated bank accounts.

Over six months, piles of cash were deposited into the 35-year-old’s corporate bank accounts and transferred between money remittance agencies. He was paid commission by an associate and helped him with collections, deposits and transfers.

Singh pleaded guilty to and was convicted of two counts of dealing with property proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000 and was sentenced to four years jail, backdated to July 25, 2019.

He will be eligible for parole on June 24, 2022.