Poultrymeat fraudsters jailed

Two Bradford men who defrauded poultry and meat wholesalers out of more than £200,000 have been given jail sentences.

Yakub Yusuf and Zulfiqar Alam, trading as Wembley Meat and Ossett Abattoir, admitted conspiracy to defraud charges when they appeared before Leeds Crown Court and were jailed for 18 months and three years respectively. A third man, Abdul Yaqoob, received a 12-month community order with 200 hours’ unpaid work.

The court heard that between 2006 and 2009 the men ordered the poultry and meat over the phone and then sold it to restaurants in Yorkshire.

Evidence was given that the defendants used false identities and either faxed forged bank deposit slips, which stated that cash deposits had been paid into the wholesalers account, or wrote cheques on closed accounts that subsequently bounced.

The court heard that Yusuf had previously been jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2009 for meat hygiene offences.

Following the case a spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said: “Our sympathies lie with the many companies who have lost a great deal of money over the years and, as a result, the jobs of honest hard working people have been lost or put in jeopardy in these difficult times.”