A London loan shark who lent more than £4.7 million and expected more than £6.5 million in return has been jailed for 12 months today.
Alexander Ali Baba, aged 66, of Morden, south London, admitted two charges of illegal money lending, one between January 2020 and December 2022 and the second between January 2023 and October 2025.
He appeared before Kingston upon Thames Crown Court today to be sentenced.
The Judge, Recorder William Featherby KC, sentenced him to 12 months immediate custody and said: “This is a very unpleasant offence. It is predatory upon vulnerable, financially poor people.”
The case was prosecuted by the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and Merton Council Trading Standards Service.
Mr Ben Irwin, prosecuting on behalf of the IMLT, told the court that Ali Baba ran an illegal money lending business between January 2020 and October 2025 from his home in Morden, and his grocery store, in Mitcham.
Loans were given to people in the community and had ‘oppressive’ repayment terms.
Monthly instalments were high and there were substantial penalties for late payments – one borrower described a penalty of £140 for each missed payment.
Another paid monthly instalment with £205 in additional payments added. Interest rates were high and in some cases were around 100%.
There was no formal documentation provided and records were kept in handwritten books, envelopes, and ledgers. Communication was also conducted via WhatsApp.
Mr Irwin said the IMLT received a report that Ali Baba was illegally lending in March 2025. An investigation followed and on October 15, 2025, IMLT officers, working with Metropolitan Police officers conducted a warrant at his house in Florence Avenue, arresting him.
His home and his grocery store were searched and over £155,000 in cash was found, mostly in white envelopes. Various handwritten documents were recovered referring to charges and penalties. A large quantity of material was recovered from an office area at the back of the store, including loan books, notebooks containing names and amounts and ID documents believed to belong to borrowers.
After his arrest Ali Baba suffered a medical episode and was taken to hospital. He flew to Ghana the following day, delaying his interview until his return.
IMLT investigators found he had 14 bank accounts and there was extensive activity with transactions marked with works like ‘loan’, ‘owe’ and ‘penalty fee’.
Analysis of banking records and other documents showed he gave out around 2,275 loans totalling in excess of £4.7 million and expected to be repaid around £6.6 million. Interest rates varied from 30% to more than 100% with loans ranging between £500 and £3,000.
Mr Irwin said one borrower took several loans and described feeling intimidated and threatened when she was unable to pay.
Another said she visited the store and the defendant shouted at her ‘at the top of his voice’ and called her ‘greedy’ because she had missed payments. She said: “‘I was very upset, and he scared me greatly… I started to feel stomach cramps, I was crying at the time.” She was pregnant at the time and went on to suffer a miscarriage. She described how she had paid in excess of £3,000 on a £3,000 loan and was told that she still owed £3,000 because of penalties and charges.
Another was left with feelings of shame and embarrassment when unable to meet repayments and one said the defendant was aggressive, angry, rude and uncooperative.
In his interview under caution Ali Baba provided a prepared statement in which he claimed to be an organiser of a ‘sou sou’, a money sharing scheme.
In defence, the court heard Ali Baba did not know he was acting illegally and the lending began as a genuine intention to help people in his community. The court heard he now felt ashamed and remorseful.
Recorder Featherby said he did not accept that Ali Baba was running a ‘sou-sou’ scheme and also did not accept that he didn’t know he was acting illegally. He said he started out lending to people in the Ghanaian community, but it turned into something more akin to a business with high interest and penalty fees.
Following the case, Dave Benbow, head of the IMLT, a national team hosted by Birmingham City Council, said: “This case involved huge sums of money and this defendant was well known in the community for lending money. This is how many illegal lenders operate, they pretend they are offering a service and a favour, in fact they are exploiting the vulnerable and ripping people off.
“We hope this sentence sends a message to other illegal lenders who operate in this way that they are not above the law. And we would urge anyone who thinks they may have borrowed from an illegal lender like this to contact us for support.”
Anyone who has been affected by illegal money lending should call the IMLT’s Stop Loan Sharks 24/7 confidential helpline on 0300 555 2222 or access support online at www.stoploansharks.co.uk. Live Chat is available on the website from 9am to 8pm, Monday to Friday. WhatsApp messages can also be sent to 07700 102773 weekdays between 9am and 8pm.
