Majid hid wealth from wife, slams sheriff

A Coatbridge councillor lied and fabricated evidence to cheat his wife out of a fair divorce settlement.

According to a sheriff’s damning verdict, Dr Imtiaz Majid deliberately kept his wealth hidden and pretended to lose tens of thousands of pounds through a gambling addiction.

A bank transfer of £250,000 for company shares and a house sale of £120,000 formed part of the scam, which also involved Dr Majid’s two brothers.

After all three siblings gave evidence in the divorce proceedings, Sheriff Morag Galbraith called the trio “evasive” and said she “did not find any of them credible at all”.

She said some of Dr Majid’s evidence had been “entirely unacceptable and incredible” and considered some of his other claims “ludicrous” and “a complete fabrication”.

Dr Majid also kept his wife Uzma “continually short of money” and in a house which was “inadequately furnished and heated”.

Sheriff Galbraith ordered Dr Majid to pay the mother-of-two £150,000 to correct the “economic imbalance” she had suffered during their marriage.

Sheriff Galbraith’s judgement, dated September 23, said Dr Majid and his wife wed in an arranged ceremony in 2002.

However, the marriage was soon in trouble.

Within weeks of Mrs Majid first leaving her husband in 2006 to go to “a woman’s refuge in London”, he sold his home to his brother Sarfraz for £119,500, and sold his shares in three family firms to Sarfraz and another brother Asif, apparently for £250,000.

After a short reconciliation, the couple finally separated in 2008.

When Dr Majid instigated divorce proceedings, his wife sought a settlement of £500,000 plus £2000 a month.

But Dr Majid claimed to have gambled away most of his money - his lawyer said he had £700 left by 2008 - prompting 11 days of court hearings.

Dr Majid’s brothers testified they paid him £125,000 each for company shares, initially as a bank transfer, then in cash after an alleged snag.

Sheriff Galbraith said the episode was a charade, “contrived” to give the impression Dr Majid had cut his ties to the firms, while actually still involved and able to access funds.

She did not accept Dr Majid dissipated his assets through gambling but used the idea “to conceal his assets”.

Dr Majid also testified he gave his wife £150,000 cash at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station in 2006.

Sheriff Galbraith said: “I have no hesitation in finding [Dr Majid’s] evidence in this regard totally incredible and I consider it to be a complete fabrication.”

Dr Majid’s lawyer said his client intended to appeal.

Fabricated evidence Councillor Majid