Preacher of hate in £250k buy-to-let scandal

From the WTF? file: Abu Hamza Mazri,(On Remand) Just bought himself some Income property. How? Abu was the #1 Islamic Cleric in the UK, before he was sentenced to 7 years for Solicitation of Murder. Coincidentally Britains #2 Islamic Cleric, is also in custody for basically the same thing. I don't spend as much time in Church as I used to, but I don't recall much solicitation of Murder by Priests going on when I did. Unless I missed a meeting, something is amiss. But the what really has me wondering is how this cupcake is allowed to buy property while the the government pays his legal bills, and supports his family in style?

Race hate preacher Abu Hamza secretly bought a house for £220,000 cash while in prison.

At the same time the Islamist extremist was running up a legal aid bill which cost the taxpayer £250,000.
An Evening Standard investigation reveals that the four-bedroom semi in Greenford was until last week rented out to Polish labourers.
Hamza, 48, who preached at the Finsbury-Park mosque, was sentenced to seven years in February for soliciting murder. The house was bought while he was on remand in Belmarsh highsecurity prison.
But his assets are supposed to have been frozen by the Treasury under anti-terrorism sanctions which should have prevented him buying and selling property.
Hamza's family live at the taxpayer's expense in a £600,000, five-bedroom council house in Shepherd's Bush. His wife Najat Chaffe and up to eight children claim a reported £680 a week in benefits.
Hamza's new house in Hicks Avenue was bought, according to Land Registry documents obtained by the Evening Standard, in October 2004.
The purchase of the house was uncovered by investigators working for the Legal Services Commission (LSC), the government body in charge of Britain's £2billion legal aid budget.
The discovery of the house may now enable authorities to claw back at least some of the money spent on Hamza's defence.
The house, built in the 1930s, is now subject to a legal order preventing it being sold without permission of the court. A special hearing was held at the Old Bailey in the summer at which Lord Justice Hughes, who presided over Hamza's trial, ruled the house could not be sold "without the leave of the court".
The order names three people - including Hamza's wife - who "are restrained from dealing with the propertyî until the court determines just how much of the legal defence costs Hamza should have to pay.
The house is registered in the name of Ola Kamel Mostafa, a woman believed to be a relative of Hamza who is understood to live in Egypt where the cleric was born. Hamza's real name is Mostafa Kamel Mostafa.
It was bought a month after the sale in September 2004 of a flat owned by Hamza and registered in his name in Adie Road in Hammersmith, which fetched £228,000.
Hamza made a profit of about £130,000 on the flat which he bought off the council under right-to-buy for £100,000 in 1999.
Ola Kamel Mostafa is named in the court order along with Ms Chaffe, Hamza's second wife and the mother of six of his children, and Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, also thought to be a relative and also thought to be living in Egypt.
The ruling states: "It is ordered that Ola Kamel Mostafa, Najat Chaffe and Mohammed Kamel Mostafa are restrained from dealing with property situated at Hicks Avenue, Greenford, Middlesex, without the leave of the court."
The Land Registry also now carries a warning on the property in Greenford. It states: "Restriction: Under an order of the Central Criminal Court made on 29 June 2006 no disposition by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered except under a further order of the court."
The LSC's Special Investigations Unit believes it has uncovered a money trail linking the sale of Hamza's flat in Adie Road to the purchase of the house in Greenford.
Hamza has claimed the flat was owned by one of his sons and that he had no assets.
Neighbours in Hicks Avenue were unaware of the Hamza connection. One said a man named Abdul had introduced himself to residents as the landlord of the property.
He would collect rent once a month from Polish tenants. Neighbours suggested as many as 20 Poles were living in the property at any one time.
They complained of loud music until late at night and a lot of noise coming from the property.
About 10 days ago, the numerous tenants left and the house has remained empty since then.
It is now back on the market with an estate agents based in Shepherd's Bush. It is advertised on the internet as a four bedroom property for £270 a week, either furnished or unfurnished. The Standard posed as prospective tenants for a tour of the property, which has had little sign of investment from its new owner.
The interior is shabby in places, the cramped kitchen is dank and unchanged in decades.
Rubbish is scattered about the front and back gardens. But despite its decorative state, the house remains an extremely shrewd investment and is now worth as much as £260,000.
The estate agent said it would be "easy" to rent out to immigrant workers - even in its current state. The agent said: "There are people who are desperate for somewhere cheap to live in London. There is so much demand for housing in this city.
"I told the owner I could let this in a week, but it is taking a bit longer because people want it redecorated after the last tenants. They left it in a bad way, but a £300 redecoration would sort it.
"I've told the owner that, but they do not want to spend any money. Most landlords are greedy - they buy a place, spend as little as possible doing it up, rent it out for five years before selling it for a profit.
"This owner does not want to pay a management fee - I am just here to find a tenant."
When asked who owned the property, the agent accused the undercover reporter of carrying out "some kind of investigation about the landlord".
He refused to give any details about the owner and ended the tour of the house.
A spokesman for the LSC said investigations into Hamza's finances were ongoing.
A costs hearing will not now take place until Hamza's appeal against his conviction is heard in October.
Should he win the appeal, all Hamza's costs will be paid out of the public purse. Should his conviction be upheld, however, Hamza may then be liable for at least part of his defence.