Leeds City Council slams 'shocking' fraudster who tried to con £710,000 from public purse

Aftab Baig was jailed this week for a sophisticated scam in which he successfully applied for Covid loans in 2020 while pretending to be a property manager for the fast-food shop, Greggs.

The 47-year-old was found guilty of fraud after a six-day trial at Leeds Crown Court, and handed four years’ jail.

After his sentencing, a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We are pleased that this case has been brought to a conclusion and that the perpetrator has been held to account for what was a brazen and calculated act of fraud.

“This money was intended to support local businesses in Leeds at a time when they were facing unprecedented pressures and when the city and its communities were coming together to get through the pandemic.

“For someone to take advantage of such challenging circumstances and defraud the public purse is shocking and we would like to thank all those involved in this investigation for helping to ensure justice has been served.”

Baig, of Paisley Road, Glasgow, was part of a gang that hit at the height of the pandemic while small businesses struggled to stay afloat.

He attempted to claim the loans - set up to help out businesses during lockdown - by pretending to be the property manager for 32 branches of Greggs and arranging for money to be deposited into his account.

The money came from the Small Business Grant Fund, one of several schemes set up by the Government to help small businesses with business rates relief.

Baig was the sole director of a takeaway company called AUE Catering Ltd.

Baig had no links to Greggs but used the details to apply for rates relief to the tune of £710,000 which was paid into a bank account associated with his own catering business.

In May 2020, with the council having realised the claims were fraudulent just days later, action was taken which resulted in the account being frozen. However, he had moved £95,000 to two other accounts by that stage.

He brazenly even tried to get the freezing order lifted.

The investigation was led by the National Investigation Service (NATIS) and Baig was arrested in Glasgow on July 8 2020 by Police Scotland officers.

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At Baig’s home, £16,000 in cash was found, as well as forged remittance slips which officers believed that he was planning to use to try and persuade the bank to return the frozen money.

Kelly Ward from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Baig took advantage of the difficult circumstances of the pandemic in 2020 to defraud the council out of taxpayers’ money.

“Those who cheat the public purse are stealing funds which should rightly go towards services and the community, or in this case towards supporting small businesses through an extremely challenging time.

“We will not hesitate to work together with investigators such as NATIS to bring offenders like Baig to justice.

“We will also be starting proceedings to recover any assets resulting from this criminality.”