Corner shop conmen cheat Gloucester customers out of £50K
A JUDGE has questioned how two immigrant "overstayers" were able to set up a corner shop – and then cheat their customers out of almost £50,000.
Syed Bukhari, 25, and Siyed Asem, 58, both of Barton Street, Gloucester, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to defrauding customers who asked them to transfer money to people in India and Bangladesh.
The court heard the two men were running a shop in Barton street when they offered the money transfer service to customers with relatives in the Indian sub-continent.
Bukhari admitted 11 offences of fraud between January and March this year after he made false representations to customers that his money transfer business was in a sound financial position and money would be transferred at a preferential rate of exchange.
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Asem admitted 12 similar charges.
Lisa Hennessy, prosecuting, said Bukhari was responsible for £33,688 of the total fraud and Asem £14,518.
"They ran a corner shop," she said. "One person paid over two sums of £5,000 – a total of £10,000 – and has lost it."
Judge Jamie Tabor QC asked "Where has all the money gone?"
Assests
"There is none left," said Mrs Hennessy. "We say their total criminal benefit was £51,000 but they have no assets left. The money has been used to keep the cashflow going in the shop. Everything seems to have been fine between last October and January when money was being transferred. But from January on it starts to fall apart and it is clear that the money has been used to keep things going and they have spent it.
"There doesn't appear to be any money left. £50,000 has gone in two and a half months."
Sabhia Pathan, defending, said Asem – who was assisted in court by an Urdu interpreter – has already been declared bankrupt.
"Both men are overstayers and both have been served with deportation papers," she said. "Mr Asem has significant health difficulties."
Judge Tabor commented: "That's why he came to this country in the first place."
The judge said he would want to know how the two men were able to set up a corner shop if they were overstayers and had no legal status.
The judge remanded Bukhari in custody and Asem on bail for pre-sentence reports. But he warned them both to expect prison sentences when they return to court on August 10.
Comments
by Lord_Haw_Haw
Tuesday, July 31 2012, 6:21PM
“His Lordship is rather cynical on this one...
First. One suspects that of the money being sent back, much of it can from fellow illegals, who would be unlikely to make to much of a fuss to the authorities.
Second. Far from being 'lost', the bulk of the money is still around, or has even been sent back to the sub continent by a reputable source.
Tally ho !”
by vodkellogs
Tuesday, July 31 2012, 5:24PM
“this was my local shop for nearly 3 years, the men that worked there were very rude and arrogant and made me feel unconfortable just walking past in case they were stood on the doorstep (which they did a lot) not only that but whenever i went to the shop it felt like visiting somebodies front room, they were always eating cooked meals, on the telephone or watching television.
also, the barton area is a very close community, everybody knows everybody else, so does this mean they were stealing off not only their neighbours but also their friends?
i believe that they should be deported straight away, rather than waste anymore of our money on their custody or prison. its ridiculous.”
by Lord_Haw_Haw
Friday, July 27 2012, 10:51PM
“Time to put 'visitors' from the sub continent on visas. All of them. It's all you can do when abuse is rife...
Carry on chaps...”
by Bonkim2003
Friday, July 27 2012, 7:07PM
“Kay_Powell - Yes! the unregulated financial services sector in the UK is not much to boast about - like leaches on the poor and unsuspecting - same as pay day loans, etc - many have flooded in from the US where the regulation is a lot tougher and some are known to have links with organised crime - Western Union amongst them. If you had read recent news - even some respectable banks were acting as money launderers for S American drug gangs in Mexico.
Whatever happens to these swindlers - those who lost their money will not get it back - probably poor immigrants who live around Barton Street - some may be illegals, may not have bank accounts, and the recipients also in a similar situation.
Such informal money transfer operators have a worldwide network (as in medieval Europe), some bordering on criminal/money laundering and other illegal activities; I don't understand why government make these illegal and stop them from operating.
To go back to my second point - it will be poetic justice as prisons in their home lands wherever it is - will be pretty harsh and brutal - those who lost money may (hoping) take a contract out on their own terms - a far cry from the soft prison regime here followed by protracted legal wrangle to safeguard their human rights. They have forfeited their human rights as far as I am concerned.”
by Kay_Powell
Friday, July 27 2012, 5:35PM
“Bonkim, I agree with your second comment, but not your first. Imagine if you used a local investment company and were perfectly happy with it, then it closed down taking all of your savings with it. These money transfer companies aren't regulated, as far as I know. The big ones, such as Western Union, charge up to 20% commission, which is a disgrace. The people who had their money stolen by these two criminals weren't to know that the transfers had stopped happening and that the money was being kept by the shop. They only found out when their relatives told them that the money hadn't arrived.”
by Bonkim2003
Friday, July 27 2012, 12:22PM
“Best to send them off to their home country to serve their sentences rather than waste public money keeping them here and then going through courts to deport them.”
by Douglasknows
Friday, July 27 2012, 11:45AM
“Tip of the iceberg, overstayers are probably in every town/city in the country. Dont you just love being a tax payer!”
by dcfc79
Friday, July 27 2012, 10:55AM
“Apologies for the extra capital letter,”
by dcfc79
Friday, July 27 2012, 10:51AM
“SOme opf the udges in the counnty need to get some balls and just kick people like this out of the country,”
by zalapompadoo
Friday, July 27 2012, 10:28AM
“we the tax payer will keep these 2 conmen in luxury while we slog our guts out to keep our heads above water ,sorry send them back”