Fake Car Dealership Gang stole £500k in Car Finance Scam

A gang of fraudsters set up scores of fake firms in elaborate VAT and car finance scams, which netted them almost £500,000 and tried to steal a further £377,000.

Shahid Mohammad was the ringleader of the gang, which set up 90 bogus companies including a recruitment firm to steal people’s identities.

Those identities were then used as directors of fake car dealerships.

The gang would use addresses of vacant premises across the Midlands as the locations of those firms.

Personal information, also obtained via the bogus recruitment firm, was used to record made-up vehicle sales and complete car finance agreements with lenders.

Once paid out by lenders, the money was transferred through several bank accounts and withdrawn in cash.

HMRC, Derbyshire Police and West Midlands Police carried out a joint investigation.

The investigation revealed that the gang used 91 different stolen identities to make car finance claims between January 2015 and November 2016, netting £390,980

The gang also used these fake firms to submit fraudulent VAT repayments totalling £80,716.

The criminals also tried to steal a further £144,500 in car finance and a further £233,160 in VAT but these payments were withheld by HMRC.

Shahid Mohammad, Adnan Sharif, Mohsan Hussain, Usman Sharif, Zahid Mohammad and Mohammed Maroof were convicted after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

The trial concluded without a jury after they were discharged on November 17, 2023, following interference allegations.

The High Court ruled on January 24, 2024, that HHJ Andrew Smith could, in the interest of justice, complete the trial and deliver the verdicts without a jury.

The sentences were:

• Shahid Mohammed, aged 31, of Derby, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and two counts of fraud. He was jailed for six years.
• Adnan Sharif, aged 43, of Yardley, was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. He was handed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 15 months and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
• Usman Sharif, aged 41, of Yardley, was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. He was handed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 15 months and also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
• Mohsan Hussain, aged 25, of 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 account of time spent on electronic tag, which was the equivalent of seven months in custody.
• Zahid Mohammad, aged 30, of Derby was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. He was handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and also ordered to complete 25 hours of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours of unpaid work.
• Mohammed Maroof, aged 28, of Derby, was found guilty of one count of one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and one count of fraud. He was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months and also ordered to complete 20 hours of rehabilitation activity and 180 hours of unpaid work.

Nathon Downes, aged 41, of Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty in March 2022 and will be sentenced on May 20, 2024.

HMRC said action to recover the money has been launched.

Mark Robinson, operational lead of the Fraud Investigation Service, at HMRC, said:

“Shahid Mohammad and his criminal gang caused utter misery for dozens of innocent people whose stolen details were used in this fraud.

“A huge amount of effort and planning went into committing these offences, which stole much-needed money from our public services.

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