£1.2 million Telford fraudster must repay just £76,000

Farook Hussain was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in 2012 but strict legal restrictions prevented any reporting of the case until now.

The 46-year-old, who lived in a six-bedroom house in Mill Bank, Wellington, allowed his bank account to be used to launder around £600,000 in cash from millionaire tax fraudster Thomas Scragg, who he met at boxing events in Telford.

Scragg is currently serving 17 years in prison for his part in a £34m VAT and tax fraud.

Hussain, along with wife Shabana Farook, son Omar Farook and son-in-law Abbas Hussain, also obtained nearly £700,000 from banks and building societies by lying to obtain mortgages.

Police inquiries revealed an estimated £1.7m had passed through Farook Hussain's bank accounts over a seven-year period, despite the fact he paid "not a penny in tax" having failed to declare any income and benefits.The rest of the cash came from insurance and benefit fraud and tax evasion.

The frauds came to light as detectives investigated prolific fraudster Scragg.

Hussain told police he only had "realisable assets" of £76,650 and has been ordered by Judge Creed to pay that sum by the end of the year or face another 21 months behind bars.

Abbas Hussain, 33, of Mayfield Drive, Shrewsbury, was jailed for three years. Shabana Farook, 46, was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. Omar Farook, 23, was jailed for 12 months.

Judge Murray Creed said the family had been involved in a "dishonest lifestyle" for a significant period of time, led by Farook Hussain.

The court heard police investigating the family froze their assets while enquiries were being carried out back in 2009, leaving them with £250 a week living expenses.

But son-in-law Abbas Hussain deliberately flouted that order by buying and selling high-performance cars and collecting rent in cash on one of the properties that had been fraudulenty bought.

Judge Creed said Omar Farook had been involved in a "calculated course of conduct" to keep monies from the authorities.

• See also: Telford family was at centre of a series of frauds