Two Men Jailed For West Yorkshire Food Fraud

2 December 2011, 14:01 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Two men have been jailed for their involvement in a conspiracy to defraud meat, poultry and fish wholesalers across the country.

Two men have been jailed for their involvement in a conspiracy to defraud meat, poultry and fish wholesalers across the country.

Following a trial at Leeds Crown Court, Yakub Moosa Yusuf from Bradford and Zulfiqar Alam from Middlesex have been jailed for 18 months and 3 years respectively. A third man, Abdul Shakoor Yaqoob from Dewsbury got a 12 month community order and 200 hours unpaid work. 

The conspiracy centred around legitimate businesses which were used to facilitate the criminal activities of these men between September 2006 and September 2009. 

Over £200,000 worth of food and machinery were obtained by the men purporting to be from one of the companies. They would purchase the foods and equipment over the phone and fax forged bank deposit slips which stated that cash deposits had been paid into the complainant’s account. 

However, the trio would only pay by cheque which subsequently bounced but the ordered goods had already been released cheating decent companies of their goods and payment. 

Quantities of meat, poultry and fish would then be transported around the country in non-refrigerated vans and subsequently sold onto unsuspecting take-aways and restaurants across West Yorkshire. On some occasions the meat would be passed off as ‘Halal’. 

“Yusuf and Alam were the orchestrators of this conspiracy and both distanced themselves from these offences ordering Yaqoob and unsuspecting individuals to act for them. 

Police Constable Liz Pharaoh of the West Yorkshire Police said: “My sympathies lie with the many companies who have lost a great deal of money over the years and as a result the jobs of honest hard working people have been lost or put in jeopardy in these difficult times. I would like to thank all the companies and individuals involved for their patience and understanding throughout this long and complex investigation.”