Leicester City Trading Standards prosecute Rohman and Rahman in fake halal meat case In this feature l food fraud l cross-border cooperation l partnership approach Wolf in sheeps packaging Its not so long ago that the horsemeat scandal rocked the food-supply industry. Now the fallout has uncovered a few more fraudulent secrets, as musharrof ali explains I n March this year, Mahmudur Rohman and Kamal Rahman who supplied 116 tonnes of vacuum-packed, boneless turkeythigh pieces described as boneless halal lamb leg were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud after a five-week trial. It was the culmination of a three-year investigation by Leicester City Trading Standards into the deception, which took place over a period of 21 months. Problems with the supply of meat in the East Midlands were first suspected after t IPS aND aDvICE anomalous test results came back from a Use the most appropriate and flexible piece programme of DNA testing carried out by of legislation available when obtaining Leicesters food-safety team towards the end entry warrants, because many have of 2013. restrictions on what you can seize The testing had been prompted by the When working with other local authorities, horsemeat scandal, and it soon became clear it is important to appreciate that their that the lamb which Rohman and Rahman priorities may be different from yours, and had sold to butchers and restaurant owners that the level of assistance given can vary. was in fact turkey. Good communication is key to success; In 2014, Leicester TS was formally tasked give an early, frank overview, stressing with leading the investigation and what we the need for joint working, and provide a clear plan and expectation. Make sure you uncovered surprised us all. give regular updates Develop a practical witness-management Digging deeper strategy, in consultation with your legal We traced the lamb to Dutch Bangla Direct, adviser a now-defunct, Peterborough-based firm, Be prepared to be audacious whose sole director was Rohman. Rahman, who was chair of Peterboroughs If you want more information about this case, Bangladeshi Welfare Association, was or advice on dealing with similar cases, involved with the company as an adviser and please contact me. promoter. Two other men Mohammed Anwarul Hoque and Mohammed Zunaid Hoque, from Leicestershire were also associated with the business, but were acquitted at trial. Warrants were issued to search the business and home addresses of the suspects in Leicester and Peterborough, where it was discovered that meat from Dutch Bangla Direct had been supplied to almost 100 restaurants and butchers in different parts of the UK. We contacted the relevant local authorities and around a dozen trading standards and environmental health teams were involved in gathering further evidence during the investigation. The boneless turkey-thigh pieces were found to be from three German firms. The company from which the meat had purportedly originated as stated on the packaging was based in the Netherlands. We got in touch with the German and Dutch food authorities to ask them to visit the businesses, and we obtained witness statements from the companies, which were key to the trial. This cross-border cooperation was very effective, and much appreciated by our team. We also obtained witness statements from UK businesses that had bought the meat. Some were located as far north as Middlesbrough and as far south as Portsmouth, so securing their attendance at the trial to give live evidence was a significant challenge. More discoveries The fraud had a devastating effect, socially, culturally and commercially on the people of the Midlands During the searches, we seized certificates that indicated the meat had been certified as halal meaning it had been slaughtered according to Islamic ritual and was suitable for consumption by Muslims. However, the certificates were subsequently proven to be fakes by the certification body Socit Gnrale de Surveillance (SGS). This aspect of the case fraud by false representation was of particular relevance in sentencing, as the fake certificates were used to induce customers to believe they were buying genuinely certified halal meat. We also found evidence that blank selfadhesive labels had been bought from a business in Nantwich and then annotated with false information and stuck to the food packaging. When sentencing Rohman and Rahman at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said perhaps the most aggravating factor in the case was that non-hahal meat was sold as halal. I witnessed during the trial how distressing it was to individuals that they and their families had consumed this non-halal meat, and how distressing it was that they had supplied it on to their consumers. He described the fraud as having a devastating effect, socially, culturally and commercially on the people of the Midlands. Each of the men received a five-year prison sentence for their role in the fraud and have been disqualified from acting as company directors for four years. Credits Musharrof Ali is a trading standards officer at Leicester City Council Images: iStock.com / bubaone To share this page, in the toolbar click on This aspect of the case fraud by false representation proved to be of particular relevance CROS S - BORDER COOPER atION The international dimension to this investigation meant we had to obtain information and witness statements from Dutch and German food businesses, which werent involved in any wrong doing, but on the face of it appeared to be implicated. To do this, we worked closely with the federal office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety in Germany, and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, as well as the UK Food Standards Agencys National Food Crime Unit. Each of the national food contacts was very efficient and proactive in instructing inspectors to visit the businesses involved. Documents from the German food business showed it supplied genuine boneless turkey thigh, which had then been relabelled. Evidence from the Dutch business showed that its name and approval number had been fraudulently used on the packaging by Dutch Bangla Direct, without its knowledge. We drafted the witness statements, using the UK witness-statement template, for the foreign officers and businesses, so that their evidence would be admissible in a UK court. You might also like The Great Derby Rate Off December 2016