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Three Sentenced In Business Loan Scam

Thursday, 13 October 2016 07:00

Three people have been sentenced for their roles in a business loan scam.

Martin Williams, 32, of Broadgate, Preston; Imran Ahmed, 42, of Burrow Road, Preston and Debbie Devany, 30, of Bolton Road West, Bury were responsible for defrauding businesses in excess of £160,000, promising loans to companies if they were able to put down advance payment fees or deposits between 2010 and 2012.

Williams and Ahmed were jailed for three years and Devany (not pictured) was handed a two year suspended sentence.

The trio set up fake companies based in Preston under the names Lomond Finance Ltd, Revenue and Finance Ltd, Commercial and Corporate Ltd, Alliance Equity Ltd and Calston Commercial Ltd. They also used fake personal aliases.

They sent out fliers to companies across the UK promising loans with very low interest rates.

Victims paid vast deposit sums, with one company handing over £30,000 as a deposit and arrangement fees for a loan of £210,000. In another case, a business was scammed out of £23,000 also used as a deposit.

The money eventually ended up in the fraudsters’ multiple personal bank accounts before being withdrawn in cash.

DC Azam Khan from Preston CID said: “This was a deliberate, dishonest and sophisticated set up with these fraudsters ultimately taking advantage of the recession when businesses were struggling.”

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