A man pretended to work for Greggs to steal money from Leeds Council, exploiting a Covid-19 fund.
Aftab Baig asked the council for data, claiming he needed business rates for Greggs and couldn’t get it himself due to Lockdown. This happened back in May 2020.
Baig did not work for Greggs at all. He used the data to apply for money from the Small Business Grant Fund during the Covid-19 pandemic. He tried to get £710,000, with the money intended to go to his own business account.
The council quickly realized it was a scam and froze his account in May 2020. Some money was returned to the council then, but about £90,000 was still missing. Police arrested Baig in July that same year.
Police found £16,000 at Baig’s house along with fake documents. Officers think he wanted to trick the bank into giving back his money from the frozen account.
On February 12, the court found him guilty of three counts of fraud. The trial happened at Leeds Crown Court.
Kelly Ward, who works for the Crown Prosecution Service, spoke about the crimes committed. She mentioned Baig took advantage of Covid problems and stole taxpayers’ money from the council fund.
Ward explained the cheated funds should help people, going to services or small businesses. Her organization helps investigators bring criminals to justice and attempts to recover any assets from crimes.