Jailed fanatic Abu Hamza has made a fortune while in prison by buying a £220,000 house and renting it out to immigrant workers. The hook-handed Muslim cleric paid cash for the three-bedroom property when he was being held at maximum security Belmarsh Prison. Egyptian-born Hamza is then believed to have raked in more than £1,000 rent a month, which was collected by an associate. And in the two years since he orchestrated the deal, the house, in Greenford, west London, has seen its price rocket by £40,000.
Earlier this year, the Daily Express revealed how Hamza transferred ownership of a former council flat in nearby Hammersmith, to his 24-year-old son after buying it for £75,000 under the right-to-buy scheme. His son then sold it for £228,000 – a £150,000 profit. Hamza was able to make the deal due to a loophole that allowed him to transfer homes he owned to someone else’s name. The properties could then be sold without the sale being classed as a business deal for Hamza. Ironically, that loophole was closed by a law that came into force yesterday.
Hamza is estimated to have cost taxpayers £4 million in Legal Aid, court costs, state handouts and policing for his sermons at Finsbury Park mosque in north London.