An American alleged hitwoman appeared in court this morning charged with conspiracy to murder a Birmingham businessman – after she was traced to Armenia by .
Aimee Betro, originally from Wisconsin in America, was charged on Thursday night after she was flown back to the UK.
The 45-year-old is alleged to have taken part in a September 2019 plot to murder the owner of a clothing shop, and members of his family, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
In that incident, shopkeeper Sikander Ali was threatened with a firearm outside a house in the South Yardley suburb of Birmingham on the orders of Mohammed Aslam and his son Mohammed Nazir. A court previously heard the men, from Derby, had developed a grudge against Mr Ali’s father.
Aslam and Nazir were convicted of conspiracy to murder at Birmingham Crown Court for their role in orchestrating the attempted hit and were jailed for a total of 42 years in November.
Betro has also been charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence in relation to the same incident.
She has also been charged with a separate offence being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of goods, namely ammunition. This relates to a later incident involving firearms components shipped from the USA to the UK.
During a five-minute appearance at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court this morning, Betro appeared in the dock with her hair partially in braids. She was wearing a grey cardigan over a grey top.
Betro spoke only to confirm her name and address as Vanahovit District of Yerevan. Her solicitor Naz Baig indicated she would plead not guilty to the three offences.
The defendant was remanded into custody until her next appearance at Birmingham Crown Court on February 14.
Prosecutor Jonathan Purser said: ‘The defendant is a US national who came to the UK to play her part in this conspiracy, then left and had to be extradited from Armenia.
‘The Crown say there’s a real and considerable flight risk’.
District Judge John Bristow adjourned the case until February 14 when Betro will appear at Birmingham Crown Court.
There was no application for bail and the defendant was remanded into custody.
This district judge said: ‘Although you do not apply for bail I’m satisfied that you would fail to surrender to custody.’
Betro was suspected of being involved in the plot and was found on the outskirts of the Armenian capital Yerevan by following the convictions of Aslam, 56, and Nazir, 30, in June.
Reporters had pinpointed the exact location of her home by analysing buildings and features in pictures she posted on Instagram.
A combination of background details in her Instagram selfies and sunset photos taken from the living room window helped to trace her to a gated housing complex.
informed West Midlands Police of her whereabouts after a reporter was able to conclusively prove that she still lived in the £600-a-month flat by obtaining CCTV of her running errands and a copy of her passport.