Two Leicester businessmen admit mobile phone scam
Unsuspecting victims signed up for "cash back" phone contracts, with no chance of getting their promised money.
Two of those involved in the con, Atlaf Gulam Master and Imran Mohamed Haji Patel, appeared at Leicester Crown Court to admit fraudulent trading.
Master (37), a father of three, of Osborne Road, North Evington, who ran Master Wholesales Ltd, in Green Lane Road, was jailed for three years.
Patel (36), of Kitchener Road, Spinney Hill, who ran Ultimate Biles Ltd, in Green Lane Road, was given a 51-week jail sentence, suspended for two years.
He was also placed on a six-month, 7pm to 7am curfew and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
Both men also admitted money laundering and each pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining mortgages on their homes, in their wives' names, by lying about their spouses' incomes.
Leicester City Council's trading standards department received 300 customer complaints about the scam in 2007 and launched an 18-month joint investigation with the police.
Jonathan Straw, prosecuting, said that £75,000 of the proceeds of the crime was sent to a business in China.
Police intervened in time to stop a further £230,000 being sent there to be "laundered."
Mr Straw said: "This was a fraud as simple as it was lucrative.
"All that was required was a shop front and a lot of guile."
Retail business, Letz Talk, in Evington Road, which Master was involved with, was also used in the scam, selling mobile phone contracts.
Mr Straw said: "Air-time contracts would be sold to customers on the basis of a cash-back promise. Every four months, the customer was supposed to be refunded a significant portion of the money they paid under the contract, making the overall price of the contract extremely attractive."
He said: "To perpetuate the fraud and expand the customer base, initial cash-back payments were honoured. It resulted in individuals taking out multiple contracts and encouraging family and friends to do the same."
Patel, who pleaded guilty at an early stage, was spared immediate jail because of "exceptional circumstances" in his case.
He assisted the authorities in making a statement about Master's involvement. His children also suffer from ill-health, needing regular hospital treatment, and his wife is unwell.
Judge Simon Hammond disqualified both defendants from holding company directorships for 10 years.
In mitigation, the court heard the defendants initially ran their businesses legitimately before becoming embroiled in the scam at the behest of others.
Master was described as "a foot soldier". David Watts, for Master, said: "Someone else was the brains behind it."
Ahmed Nadim, for Patel, said his client was recruited for money-laundering purposes, with the offer of money but made no profit.
Both men now face having their assets seized in a forthcoming hearing.
Leicester City Councillor, Sarah Russell, said afterwards: "This is a brilliant outcome for the victims of the fraud."
