A former town councillor in Bradford has been jailed after making fraudulent claims of more than £430,000 through the Government’s Eat Out to Help out scheme.
Mohammed Ikram, 36, made 19 fraudulent claims under then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s initiative during a four-week period in August and September 2020.
Ikram, of Springfield Court, Keighley, was said to have seen the scheme as a way out of his financial difficulties after running up more than £75,000 in debts from running a Manchester care home.
READ MORE: Person dies and two others seriously injured in horror crash
Bradford Crown Court heard Ikram, 36, made the 19 fake claims - totalling £434,073 - through the scheme for eight different food outlets. Two were food outlets he had some link with, but not a “current one”, the court heard.
The other six businesses were either “entirely fictitious” or legitimate companies he had no connection with, prosecutor Timothy Jacobs said.
Mr Jacobs told the court that eight of the 19 claims were paid by the Government, with just over £189,000 being paid into bank accounts held by Ikram’s wife. The other 11 claims were rejected.
More than half the money paid out to Ikram, who was a member of Keighley Town Council until his resignation in 2022, has since been recovered by HMRC but just under £93,000 is still outstanding, the court was told.
The Eat Out to Help Out initiative allowed restaurants, cafes, pubs and other food outlets to offer customers a 50% discount, up to £10, and obtain a reimbursement from HMRC for the same amount.
Mr Jacobs said Ikram registered with the scheme and used his own name and telephone number for each of his claims, with the IP address used later traced to his West Yorkshire home.
The court was told that thirteen of the claims related to either fake food outlets or real ones Ikram had no link with, including one address that was actually a barbers’ shop, one that was a hotel that had since closed down, and a community cafe that operated only every third Sunday.
Mr Jacobs said five of the claims related to Khan’s Cafe, which Ikram had been associated with up until March 2020, “but his involvement had ceased by the time the claims were made”.
The defendant and his wife were arrested on June 16 2021 after an investigation by HMRC’s Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. The case against his wife was later dropped.
Nick Worsley, mitigating, said Ikram had racked up debts of more than £75,000 in relation to “running a care home in Manchester” and “stupidly” saw the Eat Out to Help Out scheme “as a way of solving his immediate financial difficulties”.
He told the court Ikram was “a man of good character who has contributed much to the community in a very positive way” and the offending was “an aberration”.
Ikram admitted cheating the public revenue, fraud by false representation and associated money laundering at a hearing last June, and was jailed on Friday (March 31) for two years and six months.
Deputy Circuit Judge Timothy Clayson told him: “Even if I accept your assertion that some of this money was obtained with a view to covering financial obligations, given the sums involved it’s apparent the vast majority of this was motivated by greed.”
Simon York, director, fraud investigation service, HMRC, said: “This was a blatant fraud by somebody who held a position of trust and responsibility.
“These schemes were designed to support individuals and businesses during a terribly difficult period. Instead, Mohammed Ikram stole money which should have been paying for vital public services and helping those who needed it most.
“This is the first conviction of Covid scheme fraud by HMRC, but we have arrested 70 people and have a number of cases working their way through the criminal justice system.
“So far, we have prevented the payment of, or recovered more than £1.2 billion, with compliance activity still ongoing.”
READ NEXT:
- 'Beautiful' detached family home in Greater Manchester that is almost £200,000 cheaper than average house price
- Martin Lewis explains how married couples could lose 'big money' if they don't make four year claim by end of tax year
- Police watchdog to investigate allegation trainee officer was bullied before his death
- Fate of two pubs caught up in 'knives and firearm' brawl to be decided
- Constance Marten and Mark Gordon face trial over baby death after national search
