Man from Luton among four men convicted after scamming hundreds of thousands of pounds from several victims

Four men have been convicted for their parts in a complex banking fraud which defrauded victims out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Bedfordshire Police say that numerous people fell victim to the frauds, each losing vast sums of money.

One victim had several large sums of money moved from his account, totalling more than £460,000.

Following trial at St Albans Crown Court, the jury today (Wednesday) found Chaudhry Imtiaz, 30, of Normanton Lane in Nottingham, guilty of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to money launder.

AlfitarShah, 41, of Hillhead Gardens, Dewsbury, was found guilty of conspiracy to money launder.

At earlier hearings, Prinze Ramada, 57, of Chase Street in Luton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and Atiq Ul Rahman, 27, of Mundella Road, Nottingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to launder money and fraud by false representation.

Ramin Akamamad, 29, of Portland Crescent, Stanmore, was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud and Wajjad Hussain, 31, of Hilltop Estate, Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, was found not guilty of transferring criminal property

Money from victims’ accounts had been transferred to fraudulent business accounts held by Imtiaz, Ramada, Shah and Ul Rahman.

The investigation was able to show regular contact between the defendants surrounding the conspiracy, including 67 phone calls between Ramada and Ul Rahman.

It was also established that on several occasions, the defendants falsely claimed to be the named account holder, and changed PIN numbers and phone numbers associated with their victims’ accounts. In addition, bogus invoices were created in order to falsely represent trading agreements with the victims.

Detective Inspector Tim Underhill, who oversaw the case, said: “This was not just an investigation into fraud, but also an investigation into the network that was needed in order to commit that fraud and make the money disappear.

“The investigation needed to be tenacious to get to the truth and my thanks goes to all those involved - from the victims of these crimes, the banks who supported the investigation and the officers of ERSOU and Nottinghamshire Police.”

Following the verdicts today Imtiaz and Shah were remanded into custody.

The four convicted men will be sentenced on 6 September at St Albans Crown Court.