Fake car dealer gang used victims’ jobseeker details to steal £500,000 in scam

A gang of fraudsters, including three from Birmingham, set up dozens of bogus firms in elaborate VAT and car finance scams which netted them almost £500,000 and tried to steal a further £377,000. Shahid Mohammad, from Derby, was the mastermind behind the seven-strong gang who set up 90 shell companies, including a recruitment firm to steal people’s identities.

These identities were then used as directors of bogus car dealerships. The gang would use vacant Midlands addresses as the locations of those firms.

The personal information, also obtained through the “recruitment firm”, was then used to record sales of fabricated vehicles and finalize car finance agreements with lenders. Once paid by the lenders, the money was transferred through several bank accounts and withdrawn in cash.

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A joint investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Derbyshire Police and West Midlands Police revealed the gang used 91 different stolen identities to make car finance applications between January 2015 and November 2016, making 390,980 pounds. The gang also used these bogus companies to file fraudulent VAT refunds totaling £80,716.

The gang also tried to steal a further £144,500 in car finance and a further £233,160 in VAT, but these payments were seized by HMRC. Leader Shahid Mohammad, 31, and five other men; including Adnan Sharif, 43, Mohsan Hussain, 25, and Usman Sharif, 41 – all from Birmingham, and Zahid Mohammad, 30, and Mohammed Maroof, 28, were convicted after a trial in Birmingham Crown Court which ended in March 2024.

Unusually, the trial ended without a jury after they were acquitted on 17 November 2023 of the interference charges. The High Court ruled on 24 January 2024 that HHJ Andrew Smith could, in the interests of justice, complete the trial and deliver the verdicts without a jury. All six men were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday (May 9).

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Shahid Mohammed, 31, of Crewe Street, Derby, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the public revenue and two counts of fraud. He was imprisoned for six years.

Adnan Sharif, 43, of Yardley Fields Road, Yardley, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the public revenue. He was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 15 months and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

Usman Sharif, 41, also of Yardley Fields Road, Yardley, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the public revenue. He received a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 15 months and was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

Mohsan Hussain, 25, of Gilpin Close, Hodge Hill, was found guilty of money laundering. He was handed an 18-month community order with 30 hours of rehabilitation activity and 100 hours of unpaid work. The judge also took into account the time spent with the electronic tag, which was the equivalent of seven months in jail.

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Zahid Mohammad, 30, of Crewe Street, Derby, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the public revenue. He was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and also ordered to carry out 25 hours of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Mohammed Maroof, 28, of Duncan Road, Derby, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the public revenue and one count of fraud. He was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months and was also ordered to carry out 20 hours of rehabilitation activity and 180 hours of unpaid work.

The last member of the gang, Nathon Downes, 41, from Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty in March 2022 and will be sentenced on 20 May 2024. HMRC said an action to recover the money had been launched.

Mark Robinson, Head of Operations at HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Shahid Mohammad and his criminal gang have caused utter misery for dozens of innocent people whose stolen details were used in this fraud. Huge effort and planning went into committing these crimes, which stole much needed money from our public services.

“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to track down the small minority who commit these types of crimes and urge anyone with information about tax evasion to report it to HMRC online.”