A MANAGING partner at a Bradford solicitors’ firm who along with his brother formed a fictitious agency to claim thousands of pounds in interpreters’ fees has been jailed.

Mohammed Ayub, 55, and Mohammed Riaz, 49, along with fellow Chambers Solicitors employee Neil Frew, 49, were found guilty following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court that ended in November last year.

Between September 2010 and October 2014, the trio conspired together to create a sham company – known as Legal Support Services (LSS) – to claim expenses from the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), a government body that administers the legal aid system. The prosecution stated that the three men were involved in the claiming of disbursement payments for an agency for the provision of interpreters to Chambers Solicitors for Immigration and Asylum contract work, when in reality, no such agency existed or was used.

Ayub, of Aireville Drive, Shipley, was principal solicitor, and Frew, of Hoyle Court Drive, Baildon, was immigration manager and a partner at the firm, which received a contract from the LAA for immigration work in October 2010.

During the trial, the jury heard that money had been paid into LSS accounts over a four-year period, but the company, run by Riaz, of Southfield Square, Manningham, had no records of ever paying any corporation tax, VAT, or utility bills.

During a sentencing hearing at Newcastle Crown Court today, prosecutor Simon Kealey QC said there was “no definitive figure” for the loss to the LAA as a result of the fraud, but said in “broad terms” it was between £194,000 and £234,000.

He said the fraud had greater harm in that “the offence involved the public purse at a time when the court will know there is a significant stress upon finances.”

Mr Kealey said the LAA had said it was “unable to confirm or deny” whether it could recoup the money paid out as part of the contract.

Philip Hackett QC, for Ayub, said Judge Robert Spragg could not rely on the prosecution’s figures, which he claimed had been put forward “recklessly.” He said he had received confirmation from the LAA that it would be recouping the full amount for disbursements included in the contract, a figure of around £386,000. He said that due to this there would be no loss to the LAA, adding that in fact, they would “make a profit.”

He said an accurate figure of “intended loss” to the LAA as a result of the fraud was £160, 873.

Mr Hackett said Ayub, a former research scientist, had seen the “entirety of his life’s work destroyed by his conduct.”

He said his client had become “trapped by lies” he had told to the LAA, saying the case was “particularly tragic” as he could have claimed the money legitimately using different methods. He said: “It was a very grave error of judgement.”

Sasha Wass QC, for Riaz, said while her client had set up LSS, described as the “vehicle for the fraud”, that was the full extent of his involvement. She said: “He is not a solicitor, he had no meaningful involvement in the business at all.”

Patrick Harrington QC, for Frew, said his client had played “nothing like a leading role” in the fraud, adding that he stood to make no financial gain.

Judge Spragg told the defendants he was sentencing them based on an intended loss to the LAA of £160,873. He said: “You pretended you were using LSS so you could cream off money the company would have been entitled to claim. It may well be right that the money will be recovered, but that was hardly your intention when it was taken. This kind of fraud has a significant detrimental effect on the legal aid fund, which is already under strain.”

Sentencing Ayub to three years and six months in prison, he said: “This was an abuse of a position of responsibility, particularly for you. You were managing partner, you had overall responsibility for the firm. You clearly played a leading role.”

Jailing Riaz for two years and nine months, Judge Spragg said: “You formed LSS. I do not accept you were not motivated by financial gain.”

Frew was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority closed Chambers Solicitors’ offices in Bradford and Wakefield last December.

Peter Mann, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said:"This was a calculated, significant and systematic fraud on the Legal Aid Agency,  carried out over a number of years. It is disgraceful that those who are themselves offering professional legal services should engage in a criminal conspiracy to cynically defraud a government agency of thousands of pounds. It seems that the motive was simple greed.

“The CPS presented a strong and detailed case to the court  to demonstrate that the various implausible explanations offered by the defendants for their actions were all lies. The sentences the defendants will now be serving sends out a very clear message that no one is above the law."