A Hillingdon watch dealer is behind bars for flogging hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of designer watches stolen during burglaries, robberies, snatches and frauds.

Nadeem Malick, 45, of Addison Way, Northwood, was caught out when he tried to sell a Gold Rolex watch to a Hatton Garden watch dealer.

A search on a dedicated lost and stolen directory found the designer watch had been stolen during a Mayfair watch shop robbery, in which four robbers smashed display cabinets and stole 81 watches valued at £1.1million.

But despite claiming to be a small-time dealer, Malick had made over £1million from watch sales between September 2014 and June 2016.

He was given 18 months' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, 23 June, for possessing criminal property and converting criminal property.

DC Kevin Parley, of the Met's Flying Squad, said: "Despite purporting to be a small-time player on the watch dealing field, I compiled overwhelming evidence of handling stolen goods against Malick.

"Each of the 106 stolen watches that he handled represents a victim of crime and I am pleased that the sentence handed down today reflects that."

On January 6, 2016, four men robbed a watch shop in Mayfair where they smashed display cabinets and stole 81 watches valued at £1.1million.

The thieves fled the scene on motorcycles but were stopped by police at Portland Place.

While being pursued by officers, one of the men was seen to drop a bag. When officers recovered the bag it was found to contain 41 watches from the robbery valued at £650,000.

The man who discarded the bag of watches is currently serving a seven year prison sentence for the robbery.

Following the robbery, the store owner supplied the details of the outstanding 40 stolen watches to the Art Loss Register, a private database dedicated solely to stolen or lost art, antiques and collectibles.

Malick sold stolen Rolex watches for thousands of pounds (stock image)

Malick offered to sell a Gold Rolex watch to a Hatton Garden dealer, who then carried out a search on the Art Loss Register on March 21, 2016.

The watch had been listed with the Art Loss Register as having been stolen in the robbery in Mayfair of January 6.

Malick was arrested that same day by officers from the Met's Flying Squad, and was found in possession of a stolen vintage Rolex GMT Master watch, valued at £13,500 and a bag containing 27 other watches.

DC Parley added: "The assistance provided by the Art Loss Register continues to be of great investigative value to police and contributes hugely to reuniting stolen goods with their rightful owners."

After his arrest, cops searched his Northwood home to find a further 60 watches - making a total of 50 which were found to have been stolen.

Of the 50 stolen watches, 32 were stolen from a jewellers in Milton Keynes in November 2015, 14 were stolen from a jeweller in Oxford in December 2015, two had come from residential burglaries and one had been purchased with a fraudulent credit card.

The total value of the stolen watches found to be in Malick's possession was £113,450.

Malick claimed to be an occasional watch dealer who often purchased timepieces for spare parts or repairs, but when detectives made enquiries into his business dealings, they found "overwhelming evidence to the contrary".

Between September 2014 and May 2016, Malick supplied 288 watches to a pre-owned watch specialist with a combined value of £691,080.

The watch specialist provided police with a full list of the watches they had purchased from Malick and 25 were found to have been stolen.

A second pre-owned watch specialist purchased 247 watches from Malick, worth £519,370, between September 2014 and June 2016.

31 of these were found to have been stolen during burglaries, robberies, thefts and snatches in London, Thames Valley and Bedfordshire.

Malick sold over £1million worth of watches in two years

Between September 2014 and June 2016, Malick had sold £1,210,450 in watches to the two specialist dealers. This includes £179,075 in stolen watches.

In addition, £113,450 in stolen watches were recovered from Malick when he was arrested.

Despite the considerable cash flow, officers found that Malick was not declaring any earnings although he was actually earning beyond the maximum turnover that can be traded before being subject to compulsory registration as a company.

Malick pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial to possessing criminal property and converting criminal property, on Monday, April 24, at Southwark Crown Court.

Officers are now looking to commence confiscation proceedings against Malick to recover money he may have gained through his criminal activity.

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