"He should be judged on the man he is today.”
Former British Asian fraudster Bilal Choudhary has set his sights on Bollywood.
Choudhary, also known as Billy, who spent over four years in jail, has spoken out on his past crimes and claims a race hate killer forced him to become a fraudster.
According to Billy, Imran ‘Baldy’ Shahid targeted him when he was younger and bullied him into committing credit card fraud and breaking into houses.
He was jailed for a serious assault on a rival and an attempted fraud in 2002. He had previously committed other crimes, such as forcing his way into properties and stealing cash and jewellery while battling rival Asian gangs for supremacy.
Originally from Glasgow, Billy said: “I regret the things I did in the past.
“But I was a daft young boy with very bad influences in my life.
“I was involved in street gang stuff with Baldy at first but things became more serious.
“He was the boss and he told us what houses to break into and not to do anything without him knowing. I was useful because I’m not very tall but he had another guy who was skinnier and could fit through small gaps.”
The 31-year-old is now trying to turn his life around and say goodbye to his fraudulent ways. Hanging up his ski mask, he is replacing it with something a little more glamorous, after wanting to crack into Bollywood.
Billy has already had some luck with his new career venture. He has appeared in Punjabi pin-up Zohaib Amjad’s latest pop video Anni Pa De with German siren Evelyn Sharma.
After being released after serving four-and-a-half years in jail, Billy has managed to gain a wage of £50,000 for his role as a playboy in a big budget production that was filmed in Dubai.
He commented: “When I got out, I knew I needed to get away and make changes in my life. I didn’t want to be in and out of prison.
“I’ve done acting courses and got involved in a few projects, including a Bollywood film.
“But the big plan is to get into mainstream acting.
“I got paid $57,000 [£46,800] for Anni Pa De and I’ve been asked to appear in other pop videos.”
The video has managed to gain 650,000 views on YouTube. Billy’s agent commented, saying: “Billy was hired for Anni Pa De to generate interest in the UK.
“We didn’t know about his past so it came as a surprise. But he should be judged on the man he is today.”
Nevertheless, the same happy ending does not apply for ‘Baldy’, who Billy claims is a “hard man to say no to.”
Shahid was jailed for a minimum of 25 years for the racial murder of 15-year-old Kriss Donald in 2004.
Billy was already in jail when Shahid was sentenced and made the decision to change his life for the better. He now hopes to crack the acting world and avoid entering prison ever again.
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