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Glasgow private hire driver caught with £20k of dirty cash keeps licence
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... t-32920955
Raja Sadiq has been handed a severe warning by Glasgow's licensing committee over the incident.
A private hire driver caught with £20,000 in his bank account, which had been obtained by fraud, has been allowed to keep his licence.
Raja Sadiq pleaded guilty to possessing the cash, which was criminal property, and was sentenced to 160 hours of unpaid work earlier this month.
Police Scotland objected to Mr Sadiq’s bid to renew his private hire car driver’s licence as a result of the incident.
But councillors on the city’s licensing committee agreed to grant a restricted one-year licence to Mr Sadiq.
Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, the chair of the licensing committee, recorded his dissent.
The committee did hand Mr Sadiq — who has been tagged for seven weeks, keeping him indoors between 7pm and 7am — a severe warning over his future conduct.
A Police Scotland representative told councillors that the applicant “did have possession of criminal property… namely £20,000”. She said the incident had occurred in 2020.
The applicant’s solicitor said her client had been in “continuous employment since the offence as a taxi driver” and had “accrued no complaints during this time nor any further convictions”.
She said Mr Sadiq had “learned his lesson” and described him as “a pillar of his community”. “He’s the main earner of his family, essentially the breadwinner,” she added.
Mr Sadiq made a “foolish decision” and has “expressed deep remorse throughout”, the solicitor said.
