Four men warned they face prison for poll fraud

The quartet were Conservative Party supporters, including two

councillors, who aimed to get Haroon Rashid, the candidate they supported, elected as MP for the Bradford West Constituency, which was considered a marginal seat.

Mohammed Sultan, Mohammed Rafiq, Reis Khan and Jamshed Khan were each unanimously found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court yesterday of conspiring to defraud the Electoral Registration Officer of Bradford City Council by causing and permitting falsely completed applications for postal votes to be submitted.

Bailing them for reports to be prepared before sentence, Judge Robert Bartfield ordered each to surrender their passport and banned them from applying for travel documents to leave the UK without permission.

He warned: "I have to tell all of you, you must expect a sentence of imprisonment when you return to court."

Gordon Cole QC, prosecuting, told the jury a painstaking investigation known as Operation Talmine had tracked down individuals who supposedly made applications for postal votes, revealing they did not live where indicated and in some cases had no idea an application had been made for them.

"This was a well organised attempt to subvert the democratic process in this country. To get elected by dishonest means the candidate for their political party – their man.

"They used non-existent voters, they redirected forms, they 'conned' people into applying for postal vote applications. Whatever means they could they utilised the system dishonestly. The defendants all played their parts in this determined attempt to subvert the integrity of the postal voting system, which in fact goes to the heart of a democratic system such as ours."

He said there was hierarchy among them with Jamshed Khan and a fifth man Alyas Khan, who pleaded guilty, being trusted supporters of Mr Rashid and the Conservative Party organising the completion of fraudulent applications, and in some instances completing the forms themselves, while the other three were also recruited for that task.

He said the offence was committed when the applications were made not when the vote was cast. "In fact the complete conspiracy was not followed through, maybe because of press publicity, maybe because of concern about any police investigation."

Mr Rashid lost the election by 3,026 votes. He was cleared of the conspiracy charge when an earlier trial collapsed.

Jamshed Khan, 56, of Russell Street, Bradford, was a councillor for the City Ward elected in May 2004 and an active Conservative Party campaigner. Applications were made for a house in Trinity Road previously owned by his son.

Reis Khan, 30, of Whetley Hill, Bradford, was also then a local councillor who was involved in the selection of Mr Rashid as candidate and allegedly handed in fraudulent applications.

Sultan, 52, of Toller Lane, Bradford was connected to "empty"

properties from which applications were made.

Fingerprints of Rafiq, 70 of Cecil Avenue, Bradford, were found on fraudulent applications.