Notorious jailed fraudster ordered to pay back £13m

LONDON: The brother and entourage of a notorious fraudster dubbed 'the General' have been ordered to pay back £13million gained from a mortgage scam or face more jail time, reported foreign media.

Jailed Mohammed Suleman Khan hid his wealth in the UK while building an estate in Pakistan modelled on Buckingham Palace. The businessman avoided paying tax and national insurance for a decade. Two of his brothers, a sister-in-law and two other associates were jailed after using forged financial documents to obtain mortgages for properties they then rented, allowing them to earn huge amounts of money.

Now following an investigation by the Royal Asset Recovery Team, a court has ordered one of his brothers, Shokut Zuman, and two of his entourage, Arshid Khan and Mohammed Mughal, to pay back £13m. Birmingham Crown Court heard the gang – which also included Khan's brother Shahalam Khan and Zuman's wife Samiah Hanna – built up a valuable property portfolio by 'taking advantage of a buoyant property market' between 2003 and 2010. They made false declarations to obtain mortgages that they otherwise would have been refused. Shahalam, 47, received a five-year term after also being convicted of benefit fraud while Zuman, 43, received a four-and-half-year sentence and Hanna, 46, received a two-year suspended sentence. Arshid Khan, 47, was jailed for five years while Mughal, 67, was jailed for four and a half years.

The gang used forged financial documents to obtain mortgages on 21 properties in the Bournville, Selly Oak and Moseley areas. The houses were renovated then rented, mainly to students, allowing the gang to earn huge amounts in rent.

At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on January 4, Arshid was ordered to repay £8,010,881 within three months or face a further 10 years in jail.

Suleman’s brother Zuman was told to repay £4,058,852 within three months or face another nine years behind bars while Mughal, 67, was ordered to hand over £1,385,775 within three months or face an extra seven years in prison.