Serial fraudster sentenced after forging CV and employment reference

A man who was let out of jail on licence in 2020 has been sentenced after lying about his work history and qualifications to get a job at a leading British charity.

Imran Ali, 45, of Ederoyd Mount, Leeds – previously known as Mohammed Aumran – was offered a job as a Building Inspector at the charity in April 2021 after falsely claiming that he held an undergraduate degree from Leeds Building College. He also alleged that he had worked in a similar role at a building consultancy since 2017, and that he had no previous criminal convictions, cautions or warnings against him.

In reality, Ali had been convicted of eight counts of fraud by false representation in October 2019 and sentenced to 30 months in jail, following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED). He was released on licence in December 2020. 

Ali pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation at City of London Magistrates Court on Thursday 28 April 2022. He was sentenced to 23 weeks imprisonment suspended for 24 months and 200 hours of community work at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday 20 May 2022. He was also ordered to repay £728 in court costs and surcharges.

T/Detective Sergeant Alan Yau, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), said:

“Whilst looking into a separate allegation, we discovered that Ali had been up to his old fraudulent tricks once again. This time, Ali targeted a charity by lying about his education, career history and criminal record to be appointed a role that he would not have otherwise qualified for.

“It was infuriating to see Ali’s name once again when this case landed on my desk. Clearly he did not learn his lesson after his first stint in prison, but hopefully another conviction on his criminal record will hammer home that fraud will not be tolerated.”

IFED officers executed a search warrant at Ali’s residence in April 2021 in connection with a separate investigation. The unit seized his work laptop and mobile phone, alongside a number of other devices.

After reviewing the devices, officers discovered that Ali had secured his job at the charity using a fraudulent CV and a forged employment reference from the building consultancy. The consultancy confirmed that it had not employed anyone under the referee’s name.

Rather than admitting that his devices has been seized by the police, Ali told his line manager at work that he had been robbed at knifepoint by a group of men, who took his bank cards, work laptop and phone, before driving off in his wife’s vehicle.

His manager, believing that the incident had genuinely taken place, ordered Ali a replacement laptop and provided him with a new phone. Meanwhile, Ali gave his manager a crime reference number so that the charity could claim insurance for the ‘stolen’ equipment. It later emerged that this number was fake and that Ali had not reported any crime when his line manager attempted to verify the incident with the local police force.

When interviewed by the unit, Ali answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.