AFGHAN GAY APP ROBBERS CONVICTED:

AFGHAN GAY - APP ROBBERS

Two Afghan men used popular ‘GAY’ dating app Grindr to lure their homosexual victims before stealing phones, cash and identities in a bold, intimate crime spree.

The Afghan asylum seekers have now been convicted over the calculated and meticulously organised burglary and fraud operation that was enabled by their personal involvement with the ‘GAY’ dating app Grindr to identify and target homosexual victims across London in what police described as a:

“Callous, pre-planned campaign of exploitation & deception”.

The pair – Rahmat Khan Mohammadi, 22 (28.10.02) of Weald Lane, Harrow, and Mohammed Bilal Hotak, 21 (01.01.04) of Richmond Road, Hackney – were found guilty at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday 4 November of multiple counts of burglary, theft, and fraud following a complex months-long investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Command.

Between October 2024 and March this year, an organised crime group linked to the Afghan men is believed to have carried out 35 burglaries and 20 related frauds against 22 identified victims, most of whom had been contacted through Grindr before being lured into private meetings arranged under false pretences.

Investigators discovered that Mohammadi and Hotak would use the ‘GAY’ app Grindr :

(Which both men where extremely adept and experienced at using on both a personal and criminal level!),

To establish contact with potential victims through intimate online exchanges before arranging hookups at their homes for sex.

Once inside, the men employed a range of sexual distraction tactics—often of a disarming and intimate nature—to obtain access to mobile phones and passcodes before making a swift exit from the property.

CCTV, ANPR data and thousands of text messages later revealed a carefully orchestrated pattern of activity, linking the two Afghan nationals both to each other and to a string of high-value thefts spread across the capital. Officers also identified the repeated use of a getaway vehicle and subsequent financial transactions tied to the stolen devices, including unauthorised payments, cash withdrawals and transfers.