An international crime boss from Trafford who lived a ‘life of luxury’ has been jailed for 37 years after being brought down by Greater Manchester Police.
Aram Sheibani was described as a “calculated, deceitful and scheming” individual who funded his £5 million property estate, collection of classic cars and yacht parties through drug dealing and fraud.
But the crime boss was taken down when police raided one of his opulent homes in Altrincham in 2019 – with officers finding thousands in cash, safety deposit keys, crypto currency recovery codes, cocaine, and two mobile phones with military grade encryption.
Two devices were smashed and submerged down the toilet in an attempt by Sheibani to destroy evidence.
Sheibani lived a life of luxury – but was brought down by police during a series of raids / Image: GMP
During further raids of Sheibani’s other properties, police found cash counting machines, encrypted USBs, and a ‘substantial amount’ of drugs including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy.
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Two Bentleys, a gull wing Mercedes and a Porsche were recovered, as well as a number of original artwork pieces – including those by artists such as Banksy and Andy Warhol – which were later found to be obtained through illegitimate means.
The warrants led to the discovery of £1.2 million of cash and £1.5 million in crypto currency overall.
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Police found £1.2 million in cash after raiding Sheibani’s properties / Image: GMP
Sheibani dedicated time to covering his tracks by purchasing, re-mortgaging and selling properties in the UK and Spain – attempting to ‘complicate and frustrate law enforcement’ with regards to understanding his income.
He also obtained properties by fraud – masquerading as a legitimate businessman whilst falsifying his earnings to facilitate further borrowing.
Sheibani failed to file tax returns or declare income during some financial years, and produced forged documents and bank statements to support his false declared earnings.
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During interrogation, he failed to provide pins and passwords for encrypted electronic devices and iron key USB – behaviour for which he was given an additional three years in jail.
Sheibani was sentenced to 37 years in jail for his criminal activities / Image: GMP
Sentencing Sheibani at Manchester Crown Square Crown Court for 20 fraud, money laundering and drug offences, Judge Anthony Cross QC told the 40-year-old that his “greed knew no boundaries.”
Sergeant Lucy Pearson, of GMP’s Economic Crime Unit, called Sheibani a “dishonest individual who has not shown any remorse for his actions throughout this entire investigation, refusing to co-operate with police and attempting to destroy evidence.”
She added: “The extent of Sheibani’s criminality should not be underestimated, not only is he involved in tax evasion and money laundering which has a detrimental effect on the economy and society, resulting in honest tax payers feeling that burden, but the source of his tainted income is as a result of a class A drugs conspiracy.
“May today’s sentencing serve as a warning to anyone thinking they can get away with such fraudulent and criminal activity, we will find you, and ensure that you face the full consequences of your actions.”
Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
Featured Image – Royal Mail
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Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from round-the-clock bus travel for free.
Currently, as part on an ongoing pilot scheme, people with a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)-issued concessionary travel pass have free unlimited travel on Bee Network buses between 9.30am and midnight during the week, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
The rule was lifted in August on a trial basis for a month, meaning older and disabled residents in Greater Manchester had access to unlimited free bus travel any time between the allocated hours.
During the August trial, more than 100,000 journeys were made by older and disabled people – with up to 6,000 people a day making use of the pilot.
But now, after proving to be a huge success, the pilot is being extended even further, so that 400,000 eligible residents will now get free bus travel 24-hours a day, seven days a week, starting from 1 November.
If you travel with a TfGM-issued concessionary travel pass, from 1 November you’ll be able to use it on #BeeNetwork buses before 9.30am as part of a second month-long trial.
As well as free early-morning bus travel, during the trial starting in November, eligible residents will be able to board the Bee Network’s night buses for free too.
TfGM says allowing concessionary pass holders to travel at any time will ‘better connect’ them to healthcare, leisure, and retail opportunities.
“The last trial in August was a brilliant success, which saw more than 100,000 journeys made by our older and disabled people before 9.30am,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“We are now carrying out this second trial, at a busier time of year, to see whether we can safely remove the restriction permanently and help our older and disabled people to get to work, go shopping, and get to medical appointments.
“We want the Bee Network to be the best public transport system possible and this means it needs to support all of our residents and communities to make the journeys they need to make and use the bus more.”
The Manc -
11th June 2021 
