Firm raided for 200 million nuisance calls
A COLD-CALLING claims firm which allegedly bombarded Britons with 200million phone calls has been raided by Government officials and police.
Officers swooped on the offices of Himaa Group in Nottingham and removed computers after more than 12,000 complaints from the public.
The company’s Porsche-driving director, Mian Arshad Mubashar, 32, is suspected of being part of a network of cold-calling kingpins with links to a centre in Pakistan.
Investigators from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) believe Mubashar and his cronies have made two million cold calls per week since 2015. Inquiries are ongoing into what would be one of the worst-ever cases of persistent cold-calling in Britain. The firm could be in line for a record fine.
It comes after a company behind 99.5 million nuisance calls was fined a record £400,000 last year.
The latest investigation was launched after large numbers of people complained about receiving calls in which an automated voice said they could claim thousands of pounds in compensation following a car crash. The calls randomly targeted people whether or not they had ever been in an accident.
Officers from the ICO, police and the Claims Management Regulator raided the second-floor office of Himaa Group at Blenheim Court on December 13. The company was established in August 2015 but has yet to file any accounts.
Mubashar was previously a director of a firm called Direct Claims Ltd, which closed in 2012.
His wife Valina Arshad, 28, was the director of Claim 4 Compensation Ltd, which was dissolved in 2014. Both list their nationality at Companies House as Pakistani. Mr Mubashar confirmed his business had been raided when approached at Himaa Group’s offices last week by a Mail on Sunday reporter.
But he claimed he was an innocent party, adding: ‘They thought we might be part of a cold-calling operation but we are actually a delivery company. One of my former partners, they were looking for him.’
However, he refused to give the man’s name. Our reporter also spoke with one of his employees, who said: ‘These people arrived with a warrant and took the computers. I am really not allowed to say who the overall boss is.’
ICO group manager Andy Curry said: ‘This is a lengthy and complex inquiry involving several individuals and a network of companies, both in the UK and overseas.
‘We are hopeful the evidence we are gathering will help put a stop to a group of individuals and companies we believe is responsible for making hundreds of millions of nuisance calls.’
‘Complex inquiry both in the UK and overseas’