Bradford fraud victim gets fobbed off by two crooked NatWest managers

The elaborate fraud involved the authorisation of bogus business loans and the use of stolen identities of innocent people.

Today the two managers were jailed for their part in the plot to defraud the bank of £500,000.

43-year-old Anzar Hussain, described as “the leading light” behind the conspiracy, started work at the bank in 1990, after failing to disclose details of his previous convictions, and worked his way up to business manager.

Hussain worked alongside “banking buddy” James Clegg, 34, at the branch in Bradford city centre.

The court heard that Clegg processed 14 fraudulent business loans totalling £350,000 and created six more customer profiles which could have cost the bank another £150,000 if they had been successful.

In total the fraud cost the bank around £290,000.

The court was told that Hussain played a “pivotal role”” while Clegg did his bidding.

The two former managers, alongside nine other conspirators, were sentenced for the crime at Bradford Crown Court today.

The sentences came at the end of a 22-month inquiry, involving four separate trials.

Judge Jonathan Rose jailed Hussain for a total of six years and three months for offences of conspiracy to defraud and obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

The judge highlighted the impact on some of the innocent people caught up in the scam including a man with a learning disability who had endured the “dreadful ordeal” being arrested and interviewed.

Another man whose identity was used in the scam raised his concern at the bank, but had the misfortune to be seen by Hussain and Clegg.

“Unsurprisingly they were entirely unhelpful in rectifying the situation,” noted Judge Rose.

The judge noted that at the time of the offending in 2010 Hussain and his family enjoyed a “very comfortable” standard of living due to his position at the bank and the only conclusion to draw was that his crimes were motivated by greed.

Judge Rose said Hussain had used Clegg as a “shield” by getting his colleague to complete the loan applications in case the fraud plot came unstuck.

Clegg, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for four years for his role in the fraud.

Judge Rose said the case was an illustration of how bank security could be significantly undermined from the inside by determined and intelligent employees motivated by greed.

Chris Smith, prosecuting, said £25,000 figure was used for each bogus business loan because that was maximum amount which could be authorised by Hussain and Clegg at a local level.

“These were loans being sought in the identities of genuine people,” said Mr Smith.

“In many cases identities were stolen and the conspirators, in our submission, gave no thought as to the consquences that would befall those people.

“Significant inconvenience was caused to people trying to unpick the loans obtained (in their names).”

The court heard that some people were arrested and interviewed about the loans while others were pursued by debt recovery companies.

The judge said Clegg, of Huddersfield, was a man with weaknesses, in particular his use of cannabis, and he accepted that Hussain, of Bradford, had embroiled him in the crime.

The other defendants being sentenced were brothers Arfan Shah, 37, of Bradford, and Imran Shah, 39, of Shipley, near Bradford, received jail terms of four years and five years respectively for their roles in providing documentation, correspondence addresses and companies to launder the cash.

Choudhary Zeb, 40, of Bradford, also played a central role in the conspiracy, but he was given a reduced prison sentence of 18 months after he admitted his involvement and gave evidence during the trial of his co-accused.

Sarvjit Singh, 52, and his 33-year-old wife Jaswinder Kaur, both of Bradford, allowed their details to be used in fraudulent loan applications.

Singh had his six-month jail term suspended for two years and he was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work for the community. His wife was made the subject of a 12-month community order with 100 hours unpaid work.

Liaquat Mahmood, 53, of Bradford, was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work after he was involved in a separate NatWest fraud with Hussain.

Imran Mirza, 35, of Bradford, was jailed for 15 months after he was involved in the laundering of money obtained using stolen cheques.

Amber Hussain, 26, of of Bradford, was given a two-year community order and told do 180 hours unpaid work for a similar offence relating to one stolen cheque.

Shahid Iqbal, 42, of Bury, Greater Manchester, was given a two-year community order with 200 hours unpaid work for his involvement with one of the bogus loans.

The court heard how the complex police investigation was assisted back in April 2012 when a woman found a bin-liner containing dumped banking documents in her wheelie bin.

Prosecutor Chris Smith described the find as “a treasure trove of evidence” and Judge Jonathan Rose said the woman who handed over the bin liner was to be applauded for her action.

At the conclusion of the case Judge Rose commended the work of Detective Constable Christopher Hargreaves who had been responsible for much of the complex investigation work.