Abdullah Saqlain, 47, is already in prison for stealing from a charity – but that was the tip of the iceberg
Abdullah Saqlain(Image: West Midlands Police)
A charity thief carried out more than £250,000-worth of scams as he tried to keep up with his wife’s wealthy friends.
Abdullah Saqlain is already serving prison time for stealing more than £51,000 from the Birmingham-based Jamia Al Furqan organisation.
But confiscation proceedings revealed that was the tip of the iceberg and exposed more elaborate rackets he was embroiled in between 2018 and 2022.
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The 47-year-old, from Riverdene Road in Ilford, east London, pleaded guilty to two further counts of fraud and three offences of money laundering.
On Friday, May 2 he was handed a fresh four-year sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, which was told he was trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses’.
Saqlain had offered immigration advice to Jamia Al Furqan but stole money in 2018 after gaining access to its accounts.
He admitted two counts of theft and two of money laundering, which saw him jailed for three years last September.
Matthew Brook KC, prosecuting, said: “A POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act) investigation took place.
“That investigation uncovered frauds for which he awaits sentence today.”
Saqlain defrauded American Express out of more than £98,000.
He sent the credit company cheques from a closed NatWest business account knowing they would bounce, only to request refunds to someone else’s Barclays account before American Express realised.
Saqlain used forged documents to pull off the scam and even embroiled his own wife in the money laundering process by having her transfer large sums to herself.
In a further fraud he obtained a £50,000 bounce back loan during the Covid-19 pandemic, which he applied for on behalf of a restaurant business.
But in reality it was a shell company using the address of a flat.
Next, Saqlain illegally received more than £102,000 from a Belgium-based logistics company.
It had been tricked into paying into his bank account by bogus emails purporting to be from a supplier.
Finally, Saqlain was part of a cynical telephone scam which saw an elderly woman from Leicester swindled out of her £220,000 life-savings.
A £10,000 sum of the money was laundered through his account.
Carl Templar-Vasey, defending, said he had directly asked his client how he became involved in his offending.
He said: “To be absolutely frank he had a wife who was a medical professional mixing in circles who had more money than him.
“The lifestyle he was seeking to lead outstripped the income he had.
“He summed it up. He was trying to keep up with the Joneses. He deeply regrets it.”
Mr Templar-Vasey added: “He wants to make it clear he apologises and is ashamed of the actions he took part in.
“He has brought shame not just to him but his immediate and wider family in a close-knit community.”
The barrister said Saqlain had started repaying the money he defrauded and completed a thinking skills programme at HMP Featherstone in Staffordshire where he worked in the library.
Recorder Martin Reid, passing sentence, told him: “This criminal activity took place over four years.
“It involved different types of fraudulent activity. The impact these sorts of offences have on individuals, the UK financial system and the taxpayer is significant.
“The loss to companies from such activity is not necessarily limited to immediate financial loss.
“It results in a loss of trust between employer and employee and other associated costs.
“Then there are individuals. (The Leicester victim) lost life savings as a result of the fraud offence.
“While you are not to be sentenced for that you did play a part in laundering some of the proceeds.”
He confirmed the four-year sentence started that day and was not consecutive to his previous three-year term.