During November and December 2019, Hereford CID carried out an investigation into ‘courier fraud’ offences in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Sutton Coldfield
Courier fraud is when a fraudster contacts victims by telephone purporting to be a police officer or bank official. To substantiate this claim, the caller might be able to confirm some easily obtainable basic details about the victim such as their full name and address.
A group of offenders based in London has cold called elderly and vulnerable members of the public, pretending to be police officers and encouraging them to help an investigation by withdrawing money from the bank. Couriers would then be arranged, also pretending to be police officers, to attend the victims’ addresses and collect the money.
More than 200 victims were identified by police, with many more targeted by the and with over 1,000 unique and known landline numbers contacted. The benefit amount of the conspiracy, for money stolen or attempted to have been stolen was just under £200,000.
On 17 May and 18 May, 8 men were sentenced at Worcester Crown Court for their involvement in these courier fraud offences.
Two of those sentenced, Ismail Sarwar and Zhaigham Kiyani had been acting as leaders of the group, calling victims and orchestrating the other defendants travelling from London as couriers to collect a victim’s money.
The other six men were the ‘couriers’ whose job it was to travel the victims’ home and collect the money they had withdrawn from their bank.
Sarwar and Zhaigham Kiyani were also sentenced for Operation Ronquil – identified after the Hereford CID investigation, whereby they committed the same pattern of offending on a smaller scale in Watford and Welwyn Garden City.
The sentences are as follows:
- Ismail Sarwar, aged 23 of High Road, Willesden, London
Sentenced to 4 years 10 months imprisonment for three counts of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
- Zhaigham Kiyani, aged 27 of Craigmuir Park, Wembley, London
Sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for three counts of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
- Raja Hussain, aged 25 of Rowley Close, Wembley, London
Sentenced to 1 year 6 months imprisonment for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
- Ibrahim Mahmood, aged 23 of High Road, Willesden, London
Sentenced to 2 years 5 months imprisonment for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation and Dangerous Driving.
- Tomaso Abbate, aged 21 of Wembley Park Drive, Wembley, London
Sentenced to 1 year 9 months imprisonment for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
- Usama Saleh, aged 22 of Freeman Street, Coventry.
Sentenced to 1 year 4 months imprisonment for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
- Vijayseelan Vijaykumar, aged 21 of Hartlepool Road, Coventry.
Sentenced to 1 year 4 months imprisonment for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
- Nial Khan, aged 21 of Dorman Way, London
Sentenced to 6 months imprisonment suspended for 2 years for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Fraud by False Representation.
Detective Inspector Mark Peters said: “These men, all members of organised crime groups are dangerous, calculated and prey on our vulnerable parents, grandparents and friends. They have no issue with lying to people who trust the police and trust their banks and using fear and intimidation to extract as much of a person’s life savings as possible. The money they steal goes back into the pot of funds used for countless other serious crimes and often on an international scale.
“Sentencing were handed down by His Honour Judge Jackson following the defendants all having entered guilty pleas at various stages of proceedings which have been ongoing since January 2019. Judge Jackson described the offences as manipulative and cruel and targeting vulnerable and elderly victims. The conspiracy was sophisticated in its planning and research and committed on an industrial scale and he described Sarwar and Kiyani as having central roles to the offending.
“Ibrahim Mahmood was found guilty and sentenced regarding his dangerous driving when colleagues from Hereford CID conducted a ‘sting operation’ in Herefordshire on 15 November 2019. Detectives had intercepted one of the frauds in progress and lay in wait at the victim’s home then catching Mahmood and Hussain attempting to collect their money.
“Mahmood deliberately rammed his vehicle into a police car a number of times before being involved in a high speed collision with two members of the public on the A49 which caused extensive damage and injuries. Following a foot pursuit they were both arrested and a fortunately those officers involved didn’t receive any serious injuries. You can see the damage to the vehicles below –
“I want to remind the public we will not stop hunting these sort of people and bringing them to justice. To help us prevent more people from falling victim to this fraud, please remind friends and family that the police will never ask you to hand over cash or valuables. If you receive a call of this nature, do not provide any personal or financial details, hang up and wait 10 minutes (to ensure the call has disconnected) before calling police on 101 (or 999 in an emergency) to report it.”
