Man stole father's tenant's details for Covid loan

Shohid Ahmed "callously" involved an innocent woman in his attempts to gain £100,000 of fraudulent loans

A man who stole the identity of one of his father's tenants to apply for a Covid business loan has been jailed for two years.

Shohid Ahmed, 40, from Bradford, "callously" involved an innocent woman in his attempts to gain £100,000 of fraudulent loans near the start of the pandemic in 2020, a judge said.

Bradford Crown Court heard he stole personal information she had given to his father in order to rent a property and later used the documents to falsely claim she was a restaurant business director.

Ahmed, of Bardsey Crescent, admitted five charges related to the fraud, with only £5,000 paid back so far, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The court heard Ahmed was the shadow director of the business, but named his wife and his father's tenant as directors of the company in order to fraudulently claim the two £50,000 loans.

The tenant had provided passport details and other information to Ahmed's father in order to rent her home, with the defendant using it to name her as director of the company.

'Shame on family'

She had never been to the restaurant she was supposedly director of, the sentencing heard, with the company since wound up.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had suffered anxiety knowing her details had been used without her knowledge.

She said she was also worried it would impact her ability to gain a loan in the future if one was required.

Ahmed's defence barrister said the father of two had no previous convictions, adding: "He has brought shame on his family, they have never been involved in any criminal activity."

Judge Sophie McKone told him: "You took advantage of a scheme designed to help businesses like yours and you cynically told lies to get money.

"For your greed you took money from the public purse at a time when the public purse could least afford it."

A proceeds of crime hearing to arrange the return of fraudulently gained funds is due to be held at a later date.

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