Abdullah Saqlain, 47, from Ilford, East London, has received a new four-year prison sentence after his involvement in over £250,000 worth of fraud was uncovered.
Already serving three years for stealing £51,000 from the Birmingham-based charity Jamia Al Furqan, Saqlain’s wider network of scams has now come to light. The fraudster, who worked as an immigration adviser, misused his access to the charity’s finances in 2018, launching a spree of deceitful acts that spanned until 2022.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) investigation revealed a complex series of financial crimes, including the use of forged documents and money laundering involving his wife. She transferred large sums of money, unknowingly aiding his efforts to sustain a lavish lifestyle, supposedly to match his wife’s affluent social circle.
Saqlain also fraudulently obtained a £50,000 Covid-19 bounce back loan by fabricating a restaurant business and siphoned over £102,000 from a Belgian logistics firm via a phishing scam. In a particularly heartless case, he laundered £10,000 connected to a telephone con that stole £220,000 from an elderly woman in Leicester.
His lawyer, Carl Templar-Vasey, explained the crimes stemmed from Saqlain’s attempt to “keep up with the Joneses,” acknowledging his shame and regret. He has since completed a rehabilitation program in prison and begun repaying the stolen money.
Recorder Martin Reid, sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, condemned the extensive fraud, citing the damage to victims and systemic trust. The sentence will run concurrently with his existing term.
