Businessman Mohammed Shafique in court after defrauding RM

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Businessman Mohammed Shafique in court after defrauding Royal Mail out of £11,000

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A businessman defrauded Royal Mail out of £11,000 after failing to pay the correct postage on parcels he was sending to customers.

Mohammed Shafique, of Holly Road in Thornton Lodge, appeared before Kirklees magistrates.

He now faces sentencing by a crown court judge after pleading guilty to obtaining services dishonestly.

Shafique, 23, is the sole director of RS Clothing Ltd.

The small, web-based business trades on eBay and sells clothing by mail order to customers.

Charles Watson, prosecuting on behalf of Royal Mail, said that Shafique used the service to distribute his goods to buyers.

He told magistrates that Royal Mail offers various services to businesses.

These include opening an account where they can use Printed Postage Impressions (PPIs) to send large quantities of mail.

This is a pre-printed alternative to postage stamps.

To use this service Shafique was required to enter details online such as the number and weight of the mail sent out and his company would be invoiced accordingly.

However, last year the company was investigated by the Royal Mail’s Revenue Protection Team.

Mr Watson said: “They noticed various anomalies and visited twice to give advice as to how to use the process correctly.

“The problems continued to such an extent that a schedule was produced by the team detailing the mail submitted.

“Between October 2013 and January this year he dishonestly avoided payment with a £10,000 -£11,000 loss to Royal Mail.”

Magistrates committed the case to Leeds Crown Court for sentencing.

Mr Watson told magistrates that he was also asking for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act to confiscate assets equal to the amount Shafique owes the company.

His solicitor Simon Broad said: “It’s disappointing that the Proceeds of Crime Act is being pursued.

“He has already paid back £3,000 and is intending to pay back the whole sum.

“It is completely unnecessary in this case. He’s held up his hands and admitted the offence.”

Shafique will be sentenced at the crown court on June 24.

He was granted unconditional bail.

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Lockwood man Mohammed Shafique defrauded Post Office out of £11,000

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A businessman has been given a suspended jail sentence after he defrauded Royal Mail out of £11,000 by failing to pay for all the parcels he was sending customers.

Mohammed Shafique is the sole director of RS Clothing Ltd which trades on eBay selling clothing by mail order operating from a unit in Lockwood, Huddersfield.

Kenton Sargent prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday he entered into an arrangement with Royal Mail where he would weigh and the parcels sent out using a printed postage impression indicating the amount paid as an alternative to stamps.

He would then have a docket showing the correct proof of postage paid. He was given guidance in September last year to make sure he understood the system when there were concerns about his use of the system.

A further meeting was held on October 28 last year to clearly explain the system to him but on the very next day a schedule showed he defrauded the Mail using a duplicate docket for parcels sent the day before.

Mr Sargent said between that date and December 12 on a total of 16 occasions Shafique used a docket previously used saving himself £11,031.31 on parcels sent.

Claire Moran representing Shafique said he was remorseful for his actions and had already repaid £6,500. He had found the fraud easy to commit because stringent checks were not in place by Royal Mail.

Shafique, 23 of Holly Road, Thornton Lodge, who admitted obtaining services by dishonesty and asked for one offence to be taken into consideration was given eight weeks in prison suspended for 12 months with 200 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £500 costs.

Judge Penelope Belcher told him she had considered sending him to jail immediately but it was better for him to continue paying his debts.

She said the fraud involved him presenting documents which were legal on the first occasion but then on the second “representing a free ride for you” by exploiting the system.

The judge said she was not impressed by Shafique suggesting others were doing it so he did. “If that is the case I hope they too are caught and brought before the courts.”