Bradford Trio Convicted Of Conspiracy To Defraud Legal Aid Agency

Wednesday, 23 November 2016 14:47

The former managing partner of Bradford law firm Chambers Solicitors, his brother, and the firm’s former immigration department head have been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the Legal Aid Agency out of nearly £600,000.

Mohammed Ayub, formerly principal partner at Chambers Solicitors, Bradford, together with Neil Frew, former head of the immigration department at Chambers and Mohammed Riaz the brother of Mohammed Ayub have today at Sheffield Crown Court been convicted of conspiracy to defraud the Legal Aid Agency of several hundreds of thousands of pounds

Inflated invoices for interpretation services were submitted to the Legal Aid Agency by the defendants over a number of years, who claimed the interpreters were booked through an agency, when in fact the interpreters were booked directly from Chambers solicitors. The address of the alleged agency was in the same building as Chambers solicitors, whilst it’s so called "owner", Mohammed Riaz was revealed to be the brother of Mohammed Ayub.

Peter Mann, Head of CPS Yorkshire and Humberside’s Complex Casework Unit said: "This was a calculated, significant and systematic fraud on the Legal Aid Agency, carried out over a number of years. It is disgraceful that those who are themselves offering professional legal services should engage in a criminal conspiracy to cynically defraud a government agency of thousands of pounds. It seems that the motive was simple greed.”

"Despite offering various implausible explanations for their actions, it’s clear that today the jury has seen through their lies and have found all three guilty of conspiracy to defraud. This sends out a clear message that no one is above the law."

All 3, Mohammed Ayub of Aireville Drive, Shipley, Mohammed Riaz, of Southfield Square, Manningham, and Neil Frew, of Hoyle Court Drive, Baildon were granted bail by Judge Robert Spragg who will sentence them at a later date.

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