Fraudster jailed after Covid payment scam

Ali Amjad fraudulently acquired more than £500,000 from companies across the globe

A man who used a Covid scam to defraud companies has been jailed for three years.

Ali Amjad, of Taverners Road in Peterborough, was part of a scheme used to trick organisations into changing their payment methods for direct debits and transfers.

One victim, an agricultural organisation in Cambridgeshire, lost more than £205,000 as lockdown got under way in 2020 and people worked from home.

The 42-year-old admitted entering arrangements to facilitate the acquisition of criminal property and possession of criminal property. Six others from Cambs and Bedfordshire were also sentenced.

In a deception known as payment diversion fraud, some of the defendants allowed Amjad to launder money through their banks in exchange for cash.

He had bragged that police would never catch him as he only took cash, not electronic transfers, Cambridgeshire Police said.

When officers raided his home on 28 July 2020, they found more than £80,000 in cash stuffed behind kitchen kickboards and £3,600 in his wardrobe.

The force said money had been stolen from an oil company in Oman via fraudulent invoices and email accounts.

Several other companies in Qatar, Kuwait, South Africa and Singapore were also defrauded.

In one case a company's emails had been intercepted by hackers who manipulated payment invoices purporting to belong to a business partner, police said.

'Sophisticated'

Det Con Alan Armstrong said Amjad had a history of money laundering and a previous conviction.

"This was a lengthy and complex investigation involving multiple suspects and international victims, but it's enabled us to stop this gang in its tracks," he said.

"Criminal activity like this is becoming more and more sophisticated and challenging to detect."

Six others were also sentenced for facilitating the acquisition of criminal property:

• Curtis Brown, 28, of Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire, received five months imprisonment suspended for two years with 40 hours unpaid work.

• Keith Gibling, 54, of Bedford, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

• Warren Laver, 38, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was sentenced to one year and one month imprisonment suspended for two years with 80 hours unpaid work.

• Thomas Pemberton, 34, of Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment suspended for two years and 80 hours unpaid work.

• Jerome Sergeant, 35, of Yaxley near Peterborough, received one year and four months, suspended for two years with 100 hours of unpaid work.

• Tommy Fordham, 34, of Somersham, Cambridgeshire, received a 12-month community order and was ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work.