Ali Amjad, 42, was sentenced to three years in prison for orchestrating a sophisticated payment diversion fraud scheme that defrauded businesses of over £500,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Amjad and six accomplices manipulated companies worldwide by impersonating legitimate suppliers and intercepting emails to trick organizations into changing payment methods for direct debits, standing orders, and bank transfers.
The scam also involved submitting false applications for UK Government Bounce Back loans. Police seized more than £800,000 in cash during a 2020 raid at Amjad’s home in Peterborough.
Victims included an agricultural organization in Cambridgeshire that lost more than £205,000 after hackers intercepted their emails and altered invoices. Other affected companies were located in Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, South Africa, and Singapore.
His six accomplices received various sentences, mostly suspended prison terms combined with unpaid work, after admitting their roles in facilitating the crime through providing bank accounts and laundering money.
Detective Constable Alan Armstrong, who led the investigation, highlighted Amjad’s history of money laundering and praised the international effort to dismantle the criminal operation.
