Individual convicted of forged document in £1.3m boiler room fraud

An individual has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for providing a false document to Financial Conduct Authority investigators.

Taheer Sardar pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court on May 7.

The defendant had been questioned by the FCA as part of an investigation it was carrying out into a boiler room fraud which defrauded 120 investors of £1.3 million.

Raheel Mirza, Opeyemi Solaja and Cameron Vickers were later convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the scam following prosecutions by the FCA.

According to the regulator, it did not conclude that Sardar was involved in the fraud itself, but he provided the document which misled the FCA.

During his interview with the FCA as part of the investigation, Sardar, acting with Mirza, provided a false document which they claimed was signed by a man named ‘Mohammad Khan’.

Sardar was using the document to try to bolster the defense raised by Mirza and Solaja, who claimed that the so-called “Mohammad Khan” was the architect behind the fraud they were involved in, although they had no evidence to support this. support this assertion.

Sentencing Sardar on May 10, Recorder Judge Gavaghan said: “This was a sophisticated attempt using a false document to undermine the course of justice… (it was) a very serious offense which strikes at the very heart of the judicial system. »

Steve Smart, co-executive director of enforcement and market surveillance at the FCA, added: “Sardar’s conviction and sentence serves as a strong warning to anyone who might be tempted to try to help others to escape justice: we will leave no stone unturned.

“Perverting the course of justice is a serious offense and the FCA will not hesitate to take action where it finds that this has taken place.”

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