Fraud boss treated court orders with contempt, investigators say

OFFENDERS MUST “play by the rules” when it comes to court orders, investigators have warned, after two fraudsters were ordered to give up cash and assets worth £355,000 following a multi-million-pound scam.

Former businessman Aqeel Khan, who is serving a six-year prison sentence after using the proceeds of fraud to buy some of Bradford’s landmark properties, was ordered to pay £166,104.77 at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday.

His associate, Ajib Khan, who helped launder the money, was in April told to pay £189,851.70.

Aqeel Khan had been handed 10 prison sentences for breaching restraints on his property, said Kim Kitney, of the National Crime Agency, adding that few defendants acted “with such contempt”.

“Taking their money can hurt them a great deal in addition to a prison sentence,” she said. “It takes patience and hard work to get it through the courts but it’s worth it. It’s rare to see an offender ignore a court order so immediately, persistently and with such contempt. When you’re in as much trouble as he was, it’s very simple – play by the rules or watch your situation get worse.”

Aqeel Khan, 40, pleaded guilty in 2014 to fraudulently using £300,000 to buy a £2.5m commercial site in Bradford known as the Old Bus Depot.

He also admitted defrauding a financial institution of £500,000 and setting up a firm which sold bogus insurance.

At the same trial, Ajib Khan, then of Heath Road, Bradford, admitted a money laundering charge relating to the joint purchase of a £1.2m commercial property on Leeds Road in Bradford.

The 37-year-old was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence.