Conman helped Speeding Drivers avoid Fines by Framing Innocent

A conman who made thousands of pounds helping speeding drivers avoid fines and penalty points by framing innocent people was jailed for three years and four months.

Khuram Yaqoob was jailed alongside 18 drivers who paid him hundreds of pounds to avoid prosecution.

The ‘NIP farming’ scam saw Yaqoob put fake names and use false details on the Notice of Intended Prosecutions addresses sent to speeding drivers.

He gave the addresses of several properties that he owned along with fictitious names to police.

Once false details had been returned, the registered keeper would be absolved.

Bradford Crown Court heard time and money would be wasted trying to trace a non-existent person and the prosecution would collapse.

It is alleged that some people nominated “wholly innocent” family members to escape penalty points or fines.

Ringleader Yaqoob was sentenced alongside other co-defendants.

They all either admitted or had been found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after being investigated as part of West Yorkshire Police’s Operation Scrollmen.

Yaqoob was jailed for three years and four months.

Judge Jonathan Rose said “deterrent and punitive sentences” were needed for those who undermined the administration of justice.

The scam only came to light when Yaqoob was arrested in relation to firearms offences and his mobile phone was investigated in 2019.

Police found WhatsApp conversations detailing people who had used his scam.

In 2021, he was jailed for five years and three months for the firearms offences.

Among the 18 drivers also sentenced were Russell Bland, who paid £200 for his points to “go away” and was jailed for 11 months.

Taxi driver Idris Yousaf was jailed for six months after it was heard he could have faced a driving ban if he had three more points on his licence.

Yousaf paid Yaqoob £290 to deal with his Intended Prosecution after he was caught doing 36mph in a 30mph zone.

Schoolteacher Akib Mahmood avoided an immediate jail sentence after he was caught by a speed camera doing 95mph on a motorway in December 2017.

He admitted using Yaqoob’s services when he was “naive and stupid” and Judge Rose said it was just possible to step back from immediate custody.

Mahmood received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years. He must comply with an electronically-monitored night-time curfew for the next six months and do 100 hours unpaid work for the community.

Also sentenced were:

• Nosheen Ashraf was jailed for seven months.
• Waqas Hanif was jailed for nine months.
• Ibrar Hussain was jailed for nine months.
• Usman Sulaman was jailed for 10 months.
• Mohammed Macmour was jailed for 12 months.
• Seth Mahmood was jailed for 10 months.
• Safina Iqbal received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years with a six-month electronically monitored curfew.
• Safyan Sarwar was jailed for 10 months.
• Shazad Hamid received an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years with an electronically monitored curfew for nine months.
• Mohammed Bhatti was jailed for six months.
• Haroon Mushtaq was jailed for 10 months.
• Qaiser Rehman was jailed for 14 months.
• Mohammed Shakeel was jailed for six months.
• Billy Thomas-Hopwood was jailed for six months.
• Mohammed Yumis was jailed for seven months.