Guilty verdict for Leamington fraudsters who stole £1m from charities and firms

Kulbinder Rai, 34, of Warwick and Warwick Kirkwood, 29, and Sharon Downes, 35, both from Leamington, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud at Birmingham Crown Court.

At an earlier hearing, three other defendants, Dean Haer, 28, Momonu Adjibade, 32, and 27-year-old Lee McColl - all from Leamington - had pleaded guilty to the same offence.

The gang committed the fraud between January 2005 and April 2012 by setting up bogus companies with names similar to official publication companies which advertised public sector jobs.

The fraudsters would then contact public sector agencies and charities, who had placed job adverts in the genuine publications, claiming that they had not paid for their advertisement.

Invoices would be then raised with strict time limits for the payments to be made with the threat of legal actions if the amount was not paid.

NHS trusts, hospices, charities, educational establishments and local authorities are among the organisations which ended up paying for the adverts twice.

Over a seven-year period, this illegal activity netted the gang more than £1million.

Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, the police were informed of the fraudulent activities and the defendants were later arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Speaking after the verdict on Thursday, Det Sgt Hema Chauhan, who led the three-year investigation, said: “This was a particularly difficult investigation because of the number of victims, rogue companies and defendants involved. I am extremely pleased that justice has been served for the 1,000 plus victims, most of the whom were unaware of the fraud until they were contacted.

“A strong message has been sent out from Warwickshire Police and all governmental agencies involved that we will robustly investigate all criminality.”

Victoria Jones, special casework lawyer from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service’s Complex Casework Unit, said: “This was an extremely sophisticated crime which involved a substantial fraud committed against public sector agencies and charities.”

She praised Det Sgt Chauhan for her “tireless work” on the case, adding: “The Crown Prosecution Service will now take steps to recover the amounts stolen.”

Sentencing is expected to take place at the end of July.