An Asian-origin man has been convicted for providing a forged document to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigators while they were probing a £1.3-million boiler room fraud.
Taheer Sardar (46) was on Friday (10) sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court. He pleaded guilty on May 7.
Earlier three individuals, Raheel Mirza, Opeyemi Solaja and Cameron Vickers, were convicted on April 3, 2023 and sentenced to 23 years for a boiler room scam that defrauded 120 investors.
They were convicted for trying to defraud investors through a fake London-based company called Bespoke Markets Group (BMG).
Between June 2016 and January 2020, the trio made cold calls to members of the public, using pseudonyms, to convince them to invest with BMG.
Various UK and offshore companies and bank accounts were set up to try to distance the defendants from the fraud and to launder money.
When FCA investigators interviewed Sardar, he had provided a forged document, at the behest of Mirza, where he had signed as “Mohammed Khan”.
This document was used to bolster a defence raised by Mirza and Solaja, who had claimed – without evidence – that someone named “Mohammed Khan” was the architect of the fraud they had been involved in.
The FCA, however, did not find Sardar's direct involvement in the fraud.
While sentencing Sardar, Recorder Gavaghan, remarked: “This was a sophisticated attempt using a forged document to undermine the course of justice.”
FCA joint executive director Steve Smart said this conviction sends a strong warning to anyone who may be tempted to try to help others escape justice.
Kulsuma Aktergetty images
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury