Fraudulent car dealership in Warrington scammed victims out of £720k

The trio each had a role to play in defrauding 41 customers out of money while they were hoping to sell their high-end cars at the Birchwood Park dealership.

Many customers had their expensive cars sold, and only found out when the DVLA informed them that the owner of the vehicle had changed, with some still having never seen the profit from the sale.

During the sentencing of Paul Roche, Basil Osman and Mohammed Fiaz at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, it was heard how the leader of the deceitful enterprise and brother to Mohammed, Shahnawaz Fiaz is currently still at large.

Explaining the facts of the case, prosecutor Ben Lawrence told of how the fraudulent business, Mansori Cars, based in Risley, first opened in November 2016.

Shahnawaz Fiaz was jailed for his involvement in a previous fraudulent enterprise SK Performance Cars (Image: Supplied)
This was set up by Shahnawaz Fiaz, who was being investigated at the time and later prosecuted for similar fraudulent offences involving another car business – SK Performance Cars, based in Bolton.

The Bolton News reported in 2018 how he had been jailed for 56 months for scamming customers out of £300,000 in total from that dealership.

Similarly, his new business model involved the buying and selling of cars, in which the employees at the dealership would locate expensive cars on Auto Trader and would contact the owners of the vehicles and offer up a ‘fixed contract’, in which they would advertise and aim to sell the car within 30 days.

If the car was not sold within the time frame specified, the owners would then supposedly have their cars returned.

“The owners were usually told they would have just as much chance at selling the car in a private sale, and would have a better chance at selling the car with the company,” Mr Lawrence said.

“They told customers the cars would be on a premium insurance, and that the cars would be kept safely on a private site.”

This all evolved to be lies, with the only valid insurance the company had for the cars was to cover test drives.

It sold some of the most expensive cars

The dealership was advertised as dealing in expensive cars and took in some of the most expensive car makes, including Mercedes, Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

While some customers did successfully sell their cars through the business and receive their money from the sale, it was heard that this only came about from putting ‘pressure’ on Shahnawaz and other employees at the firm to pay up.

“Many customers had to take legal action against the business, and this eventually ended in its closure a year later,” the prosecutor added.

“The cars would be sold sometimes, but then the customers would not be told. Sometimes customers would be told the sale had fallen through.

“If they asked for their cars to be returned, they would come to collect it, and it would not be at the showroom.

"They would then find out the car had been sold through the DVLA when there was a new owner registered to the car.”

Mansori Cars, based on Birchwood Park, closed down in 2017 (Image: Google Maps)

In one case, a customer was pushed to the extent of standing outside the business with a placard, while others lost out more than the value of the car in money.

By 2016, the business was ‘doomed’, and Auto Trader terminated its contract with Mansori Cars.

Then by 2018, Trading Standards had launched an investigation into the business.

In total, 41 victims were identified and were found out of pocket of £720,000. However, the potential loss could have been up to £1.4million.

Not only were the owners of the cars affected by the fraudulent activity ongoing in the business, but also the buyers of the vehicles, when it materialized that Mansori did not own the vehicles they were selling, and legal action then had to be taken.

Shahnawaz Fiaz was the main beneficiary of the illegal enterprise, using the stolen funds to fund his ‘lavish’ lifestyle of fast cars and expensive jewellery, including an £18,000 purchase he made on a designer watch.

Meanwhile, workers at the business were also roped into the scheme.

Osman and Roche pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to defraud for their part in the offence.

Roche, 47, was approached by Shahnawaz and agreed to put his name down as the owner of the business – a way for the main perpetrator to ‘distance himself from the business’ while he was already being prosecuted for fraud.

He also opened up bank accounts under his name for Mansori.

In exchange for him being the acting director of the company, Roche was promised the opportunity to drive ‘high-end vehicles’.

'I will turn you into an actual Roach'

Mr Lawrence said Roche showed he knew the criminal nature of the business in a string of texts exchanged between him and Shahnawaz.

In one message on June 3, 2016, he said: "I don’t mind the dodgy side of it, but I do need to know you have my arse covered."

However, the relationship soon turned sour between the pair when Shahnawaz was not able to deliver on his end of the deal, and Roche was often turned down on the opportunity to drive the fast cars.

Pictured L to R: Paul Roche, Basil Osman, Mohammed Fiaz (Image: NQ)
Shahnawaz said in one message to Roche: "If you p**s me off again, I will make you into an actual roach."

On February 25, 2017, Roche informed his co-defendant that he was closing down the bank account for the business, stating that they would ‘end up inside if they carried on doing what they were doing’.

In total, Roche received £1,400 in payments from Shahn, despite being promised higher sums.

Osman, 49, first became aware of the business as a customer, but then began working at Mansori in a managerial role, and often had a lot to do in dealing with customers directly.

It was heard how he, along with Shahn, would ‘fob customers off’ when payments were not being received and cars were no longer in the showroom, despite stating they had not been sold yet.

“A customer, Mr Hussain, had problems getting payments from Mansori for his Mercedes he had sold with them.

“When he came to the showroom, Osman had arranged for stocky henchmen to come down and intimidate him,” the prosecutor said.

Other customers found that when they had their car returned after the business had failed to sell it, it had been driven and had travelled excessive amounts of miles extra than when it was first taken in.

And sometimes, cars were returned and had depreciated in value.

Osman was paid £500 per week wages from the business and was fully aware of its criminal nature, not initially, but after a substantial period of time spent working there.

He also received a number of large payments, including £24,000 in total over a five-month period.

Meanwhile, Hassan Fiaz, 31 and brother of Shahnawaz, had a smaller role and mainly moved money around for the business – unlike the other two defendants, he pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering.

Due to his close relationship with his brother, Hassan was aware of the criminal nature of the enterprise, it was heard, and would also illegally drive some of the cars up for sale at the dealership.

He received in total around £88,000 from the business and made various payments through his own bank account for the business.

Victims lost thousands

Detailing some of the individual cases of victims of the offending, one included customer Brian James who was forced to withdraw £36,000 from his pension due to his dealings with Mansori.

While Lee Hall, another customer affected by the fraudulent dealership, had his credit rating so damaged by the incident that he had to sell his house as he could not re-mortgage.

The sentencing was heard at Liverpool Crown Court (Image: NQ)
And Lee Whitehouse, who was selling his Mercedes with Mansori and was not told the car had been sold or received the money for it, was due to get married in the same time period and his wife was heavily pregnant.

He stated how the situation pushed a lot of stress on her pregnancy, and when they explained this to Shahnawaz at the time, he responded: "I don’t give a blind f**k if you’re pregnant."

Defending Roche, Mark Friend said that the text messages between his client and Shahn ‘lay bare the true power dynamic’, and that the defendant was used to create a distance between Shahn and the fraud.

“There is clearly exploitation displayed in these messages,” he added.

Defending Osman, Simon Gurney said: “Since the offending in 2017, the defendant has not committed any other offences.

"He is a community-spirited man and a family man with three children who depend on him.

“The gravel of his offending is continuing to work for the business while knowing its criminality.

“He left the business when Shahn continued to not do the right thing by the business.”

Lastly, Fiaz’s defence barrister, Richard Simons, stated that his client’s position has always been that he ‘knew very little about his brother’s business’.

“There was around £50,000 of money laundered,” he added, and: “His older brother was much more criminally sophisticated. My client was not motivated by money and did not benefit directly from the fraud.”

Victims will feel 'real impact'

Concluding the sentencing, judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “Mansori was promoted as a dealership concerned with expensive cars. Some 41 victims have been traced who were exposed to loss.

“There is no doubt that for many of these victims there are ripples that will have real impact for the rest of their lives.”

Roche, of Manchester Road, Swinton, was handed a sentence of two years suspended for 18 months and was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Osman, of Parrenthorn Rd, Prestwich, was given a 21-month sentence, also suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Fiaz, of Phillips Park Road East, Whitefield, was given a lesser sentence of 12 months suspended 18 months and ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.

Shahnawaz Fiaz has had a warrant issued for his arrest and is still at large.