The owner of a bureaux de change and his two employees have been jailed for laundering over £100 million of criminal cash.

Thillianathan Kumarathas, 58, of Eastcote Lane, Harrow laundered the dirty money though his two bureaux in Victoria, London.

With the help of Ramanathan Thayaparan, 42, also of Eastcote Lane and Dinesh Kumar Anandan, from Edmonton, they would launder the money from criminal gangs.

Gang members would bring bags of cash to the businesses mixing with unsuspecting tourists in the queue and money would be was exchanged for €500 notes which could be easily concealed.

The three defendants would take a percentage of the money allowing them to buy several properties in the UK, France and India.

Kumarathas was jailed for five years, Thayaparan received a nine year sentence and Anandan got two years.

Assistant director HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), David Margree, said: “This was a calculated attempt to make a dishonest living and help organised criminals go undetected by exchanging the money they got from criminal activity.

“These sentences send out a very clear message that money laundering is a serious crime and will not be tolerated.”

Officers have confiscated assets from all the defendants including vehicles, restaurants, cash held in bank accounts and business and residential properties.

Also around £84,000 in cash was seized during searches of business and residential premises.