Birmingham Hajj fraud conviction of Sabir Raza and Babar Hussain In this feature | hajj and Umra pilgrimage fraud | travel scams | misleading and deceptive practices Right message sent over Muslim rite of passage Hajj pilgrims who have been exploited by unscrupulous travel agents should take heart from the prison sentence handed down to one company director, says mohammed Tariq I it was evident the business was still involved in misleading and deceptive practices, so the fraud case continued n January 2017, a Greater Manchester-based travel firm, its director and a salesperson were found guilty of four counts of fraud, for false representations relating to Hajj and Umra travel packages. Finally, pilgrims who had been exploited by the company and the people operating it had seen justice done. Hajj and Umra are spiritual pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, undertaken by Muslims at least once during their lifetime. The Saudi Ministry only allows a limited number of annual pilgrims, who have to book their tour package through specialist Hajj and Umra travel operators. In the UK, these operators have to comply with domestic fraud and consumer legislation in particular, they have to hold an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL), administered by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Unfortunately, unscrupulous travel operators have flouted the legislation and misdescribed poor-standard deals as five-star, deluxe packages, persuading pilgrims to pay between 3,000 and 5,000 each for this religious rite of passage. Birmingham Trading Standards officers had tackled this practice locally, raising awareness and trying to achieve compliance through enforcement. Working across authorities In 2014, National Trading Standards (NTS) recognised our teams work in this specialised area and provided funding to enable officers to share their expertise nationally, by working with trading standards in other local authorities where such issues existed. As part of the NTS project, officers from Birmingham supported Tameside colleagues in carrying out an inspection in August 2014, which resulted in Tameside Trading Standards prosecuting Ashton Hajj and Umra Ltd trading as Ashton Travel for regulatory offences under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Customers many using their life savings had paid thousands of pounds to travel on a Hajj pilgrimage, only to be told days before they were due to depart that they had not been allocated a visa and they were unable to travel. In July 2016, Ashton Hajj and Umra Ltd pleaded guilty at Minshull Street Crown Court to trading with a lack of professional diligence. The court fined the company 6,700, with 5,000 costs, and ordered it to pay 34,300 compensation. ongoing offending Customers had paid thousands of pounds to travel on a Hajj pilgrimage, only to be told days before they were due to depart that they had not been allocated a visa During 2015 while the previous investigation was ongoing Ashton was seen to be advertising its Hajj and Umra packages again, and was suspected of not having ATOL protection. A joint operation was launched and, in April 2015, a warrant was executed at the business address of Ashton Hajj and Umra, inAshton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester. The execution of the warrant was led by the police, and subsequent investigations were led by Birmingham Trading Standards. Director Babar Hussain, who had been a manager at the time of the offences, and salesperson Sabir Raza, who was also involved in the running of the business, were arrested and interviewed. They claimed they had followed previous advice given by trading standards and that their packages were now ATOL protected through an agency agreement with a third-party travel operator. However, new victims who had booked or taken Hajj trips in 2016 came forward, alleging their packages had been misdescribed and that Ashton had let them down. Even though Tameside TS had successfully prosecuted the company for regulatory offences committed in 2014, it was evident the business was still involved in misleading and deceptive practices, so the fraud case continued. There were numerous hearings and postponements before the trial got under way. In January 2017, the trial was moved to Leicester Crown Court so all the evidence (four suitcases and numerous boxes of paperwork) was taken there. The court heard from a number of witnesses, including the lead officer and Mark Hydes, from the CAA. After nearly four weeks of evidence and deliberations, the jury found the company, Hussain and his business associate Raza each guilty of four counts of fraud. The 14-month prison sentence imposed on Hussain reflected the seriousness and persistent nature of his deliberate deception. Raza was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work. Hussain and Raza were both disqualified from acting as a director or being involved in the management of a company for five years from 31January 2017. Sentencing of the company was adjourned, pending confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and will be held at a later date. Hopefully, the sentences will have sent a strong message to any other unscrupulous operators within the trade. This prosecution would not have been possible without the initial action of Tameside TS and the support of City of London Police with whom officers from Birmingham had developed a good working relationship, and who were also keen to tackle Hajj fraud as well as the experience and knowledge that Birmingham Trading Standards has built up over the past five years in tackling unscrupulous Hajj and Umra travel operators. It is hoped that successful convictions such as these and the associated media coverage will encourage disgruntled pilgrims to come forward to the authorities, where previously they may have suffered in silence. Credits Mohammed Tariq is a senior trading standards enforcement officer at Birmingham Trading Standards. Images: iStock/ prmustafa To share this page, in the toolbar click on Hopefully, the sentences will have sent a strong message to any other unscrupulous operators within the trade You might also like Holidaymakers grounded August 2016