Judge tells conman to pay back £91,000 or face jail

A entrepreneur who enjoyed a cash-rich lifestyle involving flash cars and gambling has been told he has to pay back more than £91,000 or face two years in jail.

A judge at Bradford Crown Court praised the work of investigators at Kirklees Proceeds of Crime Team who had probed the financial affairs of Naseem Iqbal. Yesterday he was told to pay up in six months or face going to prison with the debt still hanging over him.

It is understood that Iqbal is selling his detached home to raise some of the cash, but he is also said to have other assets including cherished numbers plates.

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Inquiries also suggested Iqbal had so-called “hidden assets” which included money abroad and a Lamborghini car.

Last year the 34-year-old was given a suspended prison sentence after he admitted various offences including a mortgage scam and possession of criminal property.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC told Iqbal he had “a dishonest core” and had seized the opportunity not to pay any tax.

Iqbal orchestrated a £164,000 mortgage scam in 2004 which meant his family could move into a house in Foster Avenue, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield.

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During the police inquiry officers seized about £13,500 in cash during two separate searches and an examination of two bank accounts revealed deposits of over £140,000.

Christopher Smith said Iqbal had enjoyed a lifestyle of some wealth and had use of various vehicles including a Porsche Cayenne, a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin. Officers also found an expensive watch at his home along with receipts for trips to Dubai and a bar bill of over £2,000.

Mr Smith said Iqbal had also spent a good deal of time and money at the Grosvenor Casino in Huddersfield with around £150,000 gambled over a two-and-a-half year period.

The court heard there was nothing to suggest that Iqbal had been involved with money from drugs or organised crime, and Iqbal himself claimed to have funded his lifestyle on the back of loans from friends and relatives.

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Iqbal pleaded guilty to obtaining a money transfer by deception in respect of the mortgage scam and further allegations relating to the possession and acquiring of criminal property.

The court heard last year that he faced a tax bill of £147,000 including penalty charges and would also have to pay back £69,000 in unpaid VAT.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC suspended Iqbal’s 12-month jail term for two years and ordered him to do 300 hours unpaid work – the maximum allowed.

Iqbal’s barrister told the judge that he had always been a hard-working family man who paid his taxes previously while working for an insurance firm and later running a takeaway business.