TWO doctors jailed for siphoning millions of pounds of criminal cash out of the country are to have a day-long confiscation hearing at Bradford Crown Court.

The prosecution wants to claw back £3.5 million from former St Luke’s Hospital trainee doctor, Zakir Ahmed, who was jailed for nine years in 2014 for money laundering.

His wife, Manjula Salian, who was locked up for three years, had since been deported, a Proceeds of Crime Application hearing was told.

Ahmed, 49, and Salian, 51, both then of Nab Wood Drive, Shipley, were convicted after a trial.

A third defendant, Mohammed Ibrar, was also jailed for three years for the money laundering plot.

He has already been dealt with at a confiscation hearing that was held in June last year. His benefit from criminality was put at £95,353, but his available assets were just £150.

Ahmed refused to leave his prison cell for that hearing and he was excused attendance in court yesterday morning.

Judge David Hatton QC set the next hearing for October 10.

The court was told that Salian had been deported and was in India.

Her lawyers will argue that she is “out of the jurisdiction” and there is no power to seize any money from her.

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Kirsty Watson said the court would be continuing with the confiscation proceedings.

However, Salian’s barrister, Nick Worsley, said that would be strongly resisted.

Salian had worked as a doctor in India, tending to people in remote villages, but was a stay-at-home mum in the UK, who may not have known the extent of her husband’s criminality, the original trial was told.

Ahmed absconded to Estonia during the money laundering investigation. He was arrested and extradited back to the UK.

The jury in the long-running trial convicted all three defendants in September, 2014, of converting criminal property, between January 1, 2010, and April 2, 2011.

Ahmed was linked to £3.5 million of illegal money, Salian was linked to £1.4 million of criminal money and Ibrar, 39, of Healey Lane, Batley, was linked to about £150,000. The plot involved setting up a series of fake companies to launder criminal money and transfer it to a number of countries.