A heartless fraudster has been convicted over a large-scale scam that left a business with losses of £650,000. Umar Farook was found guilty of money laundering in connection with a fraud operation involving two other men who previously pleaded guilty.
Details of the Case
Farook, 37, from Widney Lane, Solihull, was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, April 17. Last month, Amreek Singh, 57, from Woodside Drive, Scunthorpe, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Gurvinder Sundher, 39, from Tolchard Close, Leicester, pleaded guilty earlier this month to the same charges.
The Fraud Operation
The trio worked together with others on a large-scale operation to fraudulently acquire and launder more than £650,000. The operation saw two fraudulent recruitment firms launched, and those involved sought financial support from a finance company and managed to acquire over £650,000 in funding. The fraudulent recruitment firms initially began to repay the money back, but only a small amount was ever repaid.
In August 2020, the finance company discovered they were victims of a fraud. West Midlands Police's Economic Crime Unit launched an investigation and detectives found the group never planned to repay the money borrowed. The stolen funds were moved around several bank accounts with different names and references to make it difficult to trace the money back to the original crime.
Police Statement
Speaking after the case, Det Con Edward Spokes, from the Economic Crime Unit, said: 'Once the finance company discovered they were victims of fraud and invoices for repayment were being ignored, they got in touch with West Midlands Police. Thankfully, our Economic Crime Unit were able to follow the trail and identify a number of those involved, and they have now been brought to justice.'
The men will be sentenced at a later date.
