SHAME SHAME
SOUTHEND CABBIE FACES JAIL FOR SCAM WITH FAKE LANDLORDS
A man fraudulently claimed £33,000 bene- fits in an elaborate scam involving fake landlords and a num- ber of properties. Cabbie Hashmi Hus- sain, 37, from West- cliff, created false doc- uments claiming he paid rent to fictitious landlords Riaz Syed and Aun Shabbir. Southend Council said Hussain bought a prop- erty in West Road, Southend, and later one in Westcliff Park Drive, under false names so
he could claim the own- ers were landlords and fraudulently apply for housing and council tax benefits.
According to the Southend Evening Echo, Judge Alan Sag- gerson said he “spent five years thieving from the public purse” and warned he faces jail. The council investiga- tion discovered Hus- sain was a landlord himself, and during the five-year fraud, rented out other prop- erties without de-
claring income.
When police and council officers raided the Westcliff Park Drive address in Feb- ruary 2009, they discovered identity documents in the names of Riaz Syed and Aun Shabbir, as well as blueprints for a property in Pakistan. Hussain admitted ten counts of benefit fraud, making fraudu- lent applications and failing to declare rental income between June 2002 and July 2007.
POLICE LAUNCH INVESTIGATION AFTER DONCASTER CABBIE STABS TEENAGER
Teenager Matthew Bradley’s night out ended in bloodshed when he was stabbed - by a taxi driver. Detectives have issued the specially- generated image above of the cabbie who is wanted for questioning.
The driver of the white saloon car lost the plot when Matthew and a mate refused to pay
more than the agreed fare for a late-night trip from Rotherham to their home in Rossing- ton, near Doncaster. It is believed the cab- bie used a screwdriver, key or other implement to stab Matthew in the back of his left leg, near his buttock. The painful wound left the 18-year-old strug- gling to walk and get out of bed for days afterwards. But so far police inquiries in establishing the identi- ty of the driver on the Rotherham taxi ranks have drawn a blank. According to the the Sheffield Star, police have taken posses-
sion of Matthew’s bloodstained jeans as evidence.
The driver was in his late 20s to early 30s and Asian. He was 5ft 8ins to 5ft 10ins tall, stocky, with long, straight, dark hair about an inch past his ears, with a fringe styled diagonally from left to right, covering his forehead. He also had a full beard and moustache.
Anyone with informa- tion about the incident, at around 2.30am on Friday, June 3, is urged to call South Yorkshire Police on 0114 220 2020 quoting incident number 152.
TRAFFORD CHEAT SENT CASH TO AFRICAN HOME
A taxi driver who ille- gally claimed more than £7,000 in benefits was sending the money back to his family in Somalia. Mahad Ciid claimed job-seekers’ allow- ance, housing and council tax benefit while working for a pri- vate hire firm over two years.
According to the Sale and Altrincham Adver- tiser, the 42-year-old,
from Old Trafford, pleaded guilty at Traf- ford Magistrates’ Court to dishonestly claiming the cash. He told the court he was sorry for his actions, which he described as ‘a big mistake’.
Magistrates sentenced Ciid to a 12 month community order with 240 hours of unpaid work. He was also fined £500 and ordered
to pay back all the money he dishonestly claimed.
Sentencing him, dis- trict judge Wendy Lloyd said: “This was not a mistake - mis- takes are things that happen when you have not thought about them, but this is the result of a lot of thought when you decided to supplement your income by illegal- ly obtaining benefits.”
SURBITON CONTROLLER JAILED FOR ROLE IN CREDIT CARD SCAM
A credit card fraudster from Surbiton has been jailed for his part in swindling £250,000 by using cloned cards to buy and sell tickets online.
Gavin Hall, 34, worked with Vassim Aslam, 37, to buy rail, concert and sporting event tickets, using details they had stolen from credit card hold- ers across the country. According to the Kingston Informer, an investigation by the British Transport Police (BTP) was launched after train operating companies across the UK found that tickets had been advertised for sale on social networking sites.
When officers from the BTP raided Aslam’s Mill Hill home in November last year, they found 4,500 sets of stolen credit card data, equipment to make cards, as well as £6,000 worth of rail and events tickets. Hall used his position as a controller for a taxi firm to take cus- tomer’s credit card details and forward them to Aslam.
Detective Constable Kunle Iroko of the BTP’s major incident unit, commented: “Searches of their home addresses recovered numerous items related to fraud, including ticket pur- chase receipts, stolen credit card data and
counterfeit cards, along with computers and equipment required to produce the cards. “Following the investi- gation, and after working with the train companies, we have estimated the cost to the industry at more than £250,000 and will be working to recoup these losses including the seizing of assets where necessary.” Both men admitted fraud.
When the two men appeared at Blackfri- ars Crown Court, Aslam was sentenced to three years and nine months imprison- ment, and Hall was sentenced to one year and nine months.
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PHTM AUGUST 2011
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