Convicted fraudsters have been hit where it hurts after being ordered to hand over thousands of pounds earned through crime.

Mushtaq Ahmed, 41, of Devonshire Street, and Majid Iqbal, 35, of Greenhead Road, Keighley, were ordered by Bradford Crown Court to pay a combined total of more than £58,000 to authorities after being convicted last year of property fraud. Specialist investigators from Airedale and North Bradford Police will now confiscate £54,651 from Ahmed and £3,617 from Iqbal for their roles in a property scam in the town.

Both men as well as two others were convicted in July 2011 for fraud-related offences which saw Iqbal sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison and Ahmed receive 27 months in custody.

They were convicted following a lengthy investigation by Airedale and North Bradford’s Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) team with support from the Keighley Neighbourhood Policing Team, into a series of property frauds in the town.

Detectives identified houses on Green Head Road, Sladen Street and Edensor Road, Keighley, which were all purchased with fraudulent mortgages.

Subsequent arrests were made in connection with the properties in late 2010 and detectives spent the next 12 months carrying out painstaking enquiries to build a case against the convicted men.

Following a hearing at Bradford Crown Court last week Ahmed must now pay £54,651 to authorities or face 18 months in prison.

Sergeant Andrew Simpson, of the Keighley Neighbourhood Policing team, said: “We are delighted with this confiscation. It has resulted from a significant amount of work which has been ongoing in Keighley by the Airedale and North Bradford, Proceeds of Crime Team, together with the Keighley NPT. We have put in a great deal of effort over recent years to tackle organised crime in the Keighley area.

“This work continues and I would ask anyone who has information about criminality in Keighley to contact us.”

Detective Sergeant David Marston, of the POCA team, added: “We too welcome these confiscation orders which follow about two years of investigation by detectives and financial investigators in our POCA team.

“A combined total of more than £58,000 is a significant sum of money and this confiscation will help reiterate that we will not let criminals benefit from their crimes.”

Last year the Airedale and North Bradford, Proceeds of Crime Team confiscated more than £1.32 million from criminals in the division. This work continues and with these orders, in the first two weeks of the financial year, they have confiscated more than £280,000.

l Do you know of someone who may be benefiting from crime in your community? If so contact the ‘Why Should They ?’ crime line in confidence on 0800 555 111.