By birminghammail.co.uk
A national organized crime group, consisting of twelve men—including nine from Birmingham and one from Walsall—has been convicted for fraudulently claiming £2.5 million in Covid-19 support grants. The group exploited non-trading businesses and stolen identities to make hundreds of fraudulent applications for government support packages set up during the pandemic, including grants, Bounce Back Loans, and HMRC payments.
The investigation, led by Birmingham City Council, focused on the activities of Qirat Deeas, 50; Ummer Yousaf, 40; Usaamah Bin Taariq, 25; Zishan Ahmed, 30; Noah Deen, 31; Sajid Hussain, 36; Naqeeb Shakurt, 26; Harun Shehzad, 29; and Sameer Ali Mohammed, 34—all from Birmingham or Walsall. They were joined by Tasaddaq Hussain, 54; Imaan Hussain, 24; and Al-Harris Hussain, 29, from Bingley in Yorkshire. The group appeared before Birmingham Crown Court in two related trials, with all members either pleading guilty or being convicted of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors Mark Jackson and Lucinda Wilmott-Lascelles described the group’s actions as a sophisticated and calculated assault on the financial support measures put in place by the UK government to assist struggling businesses and individuals during the Covid-19 crisis.
During the hearings, the court learned that various support packages were introduced during the pandemic, including Small Business Grants, Bounce Back Loans, and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The defendants took advantage of these programs by becoming directors of non-trading companies or using stolen identities to submit fraudulent cash applications. They opened numerous bank accounts and convinced others to lend their accounts for payments, laundering the proceeds through multiple accounts and transferring funds abroad to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.
The crime group submitted fraudulent applications for at least 53 grants from the Small Business Grant Fund, totaling over £530,000 from five local authorities. They also secured more than £530,000 through HMRC Self-Assessment and Eat Out to Help Out payments and obtained at least 26 Bounce Back Loans amounting to over £1.3 million from seven banks. In total, they utilized over 50 companies and more than 100 bank accounts in their fraudulent and money-laundering operations.
Birmingham City Council began its investigation into the Small Business Grant Funds in 2020, and as the inquiry progressed, it became clear that the defendants were part of a larger organized crime network. The investigation received support from West Midlands Police.