A gang of fraudsters who cheated would-be HGV drivers out of more than £1m by offering non-existent training has been sentenced to between four-and-a-half and six years in prison.
Following a six-week trial at the Old Bailey, Judge Bevan branded the fraud a “cynical ploy” and disqualified the four men from being directors from five years up to 12 years.
Mohammed Shuab Miah, 28, Mohammed Saidur Rahman, 27, and Simon Brindley, 46 — sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison — were found guilty on four counts of fraudulent trading after running Highway LGV, LGV Specialist, Blackwater LGV and Quickpass LGV.
Sheikh Muhammad Osama Rahman, 27 — sentenced to six years — pleaded guilty to the offences before the trial began.
Brindley had also been given a 16-month prison sentence in December after being convicted of similar offences via his involvement in Fast Track HGV.
The court heard how the firms conned customers into paying up to £3,000 for HGV training.
The fraud was backed by sophisticated marketing in the form of professional-looking websites and brochures, but the training rarely materialised.
The judge said: “You are now, and appear to remain, contemptuous of your victims, and any mitigation pales into insignificance in relation to loss deliberately caused to others.”
A fifth defendant, Amzad Ali, 27 was acquitted of all charges…
