Ten most wanted 'con-artists': Smethwick man in new list of alleged fraudsters
The country's ten most wanted alleged con-artists were named by police today, including a West Midlands suspect accused of conning mobile phone shops out of £40,000.
The alleged criminals' details, published on Tuesday by City of London Police and the National Crime Agency, include Naeem Ahmed, 44, from Smethwick.
He is accused of conning a string of mobile phone shops out of brand new handsets worth £40,000 by using stolen customer payment details.
He was arrested in October 2014 after staff at a store in Portsmouth became suspicious, and was charged with 21 alleged fraud offences between June and October 2014 before he disappeared.
Ahmed got upgrades or was given new handsets at a number of stores in Portsmouth, Salisbury, Eastleigh, Andover, Bridgewater, Weston Super Mare, Taunton, Leeds, Dewsbury, Wakefield, Castleford, Newbury, Fareham, Southampton, Winchester, Bristol, Cardiff and Newport.
He is believed to be in the West Midlands but police have not yet managed to track him down.
Anyone with information can call Hampshire Police on 101 quoting ref 44160261412 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
This comes ahead of annual crime figures due for release by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday, that will include a full year of fraud and cybercrime for the first time.
Preliminary figures released in October 2015 found that there had been 5.1 million incidents of fraud in England and Wales in the previous year, affecting an estimated one in 12 adults and making it the most common form of crime.
Donald Toon, director of the NCA's Economic Crime Command, said: "The annual losses to the UK from fraud are estimated to be more than £190 billion. Behind this headline figure lie the actions of criminals like the wanted fraudsters highlighted in this appeal, who have caused distress and loss to people and businesses up and down the country.
"Law enforcement cannot tackle this problem alone. It is only by working together, individuals, law enforcement, Government and the private sector that we can protect the UK against fraud.
"It is important that anyone able to provide information on the ten fraudsters we are highlighting today takes the opportunity to pass that information to law enforcement to help bring them to justice."
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[breakout title="Here are the other nine fraud suspects"]
Alex McKenzie, 33, from London, allegedly targeted victims using the gay social networking app Scruff, gaining their trust by claiming to work for MI6. Wanted by Scotland Yard, he is accused of taking out credit cards, bank accounts, and loans in the names of two former lovers and the parent of one of his partners, defrauding them of a total of £300,000.
McKenzie, who uses the aliases Jaswant Singh and James McKenzie, is also suspected of pocketing £30,000 while he was working for the accounts department of "a large multinational company", City of London Police said. His alleged crimes were committed between November 2014 and October 2015 and police believe he is now in the United States, where he has overstayed his visa.
Detective Constable Suzanne Raftery said: "It is clear that McKenzie has very little conscience and he has left his victims both emotionally and financially devastated. The fact he had the audacity to defraud his two partners who believed they were in a loving relationship with him, illustrates the disdain that he has for his victims and their feelings.
"People in the UK may have information on McKenzie's whereabouts and I would urge those people to come forward so that more lives aren't destroyed. McKenzie has met both of his partners on gay dating apps and it is feared that he may target further victims in this way."
Anyone with information can call the Metropolitan Police on 020 7161 8321 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Bogus Bollywood film producer Sandeep Arora, 42, is accused of claiming millions in VAT and Film Tax rebates for movies that either did not exist or with which he had no involvement. He is wanted by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs over the evasion of more than £4.5 million VAT and Film Tax.
Arora, from Beckton, east London, ran a production company with offices in central London between 2007 and 2011, and made VAT and Film Tax claims for movies called Billy the Beagle, London Dreams, Kuan Bola, Aagosh, Trapped and Kia the Dream Girl. He is known as Karan Arora in Bollywood circles, and is currently believed to be in India.
Anyone with information about where he is can call the Customs Confidential Hotline on 0800 595 0000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Levi John Coyle, 36, from Colchester, Essex, was convicted while on the run for a £700,000 so-called "boiler room" scam. The conman sold fake shares, stealing the six-figure sum from unsuspecting investors between 2009 and 2010. He cold-called victims to sell shares apparently at knockdown prices, or shares that were not available for sale to the public. Coyle was jailed for six years in his absence for conspiracy to defraud, fraud by by false representation and money laundering.
Joseph Ford from City of London Police said: "We are calling upon the public for their assistance in locating Coyle. Coyle must accept the consequences of his crimes, face the courts and begin his jail term handed to him in his absence."
Anyone with information about where Coyle is can call City of London Police on 020 7601 2222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Marius Lucian Anton, 31, is accused of using card skimming devices to steal and clone bank cards at supermarket cash machines. The Romanian, who has links to Northamptonshire and Corby, is wanted by Cheshire police for allegedly committing a string of fraud offences across the UK since 2012. He has not been found despite his photograph being circulated to all UK police forces.
Anyone with information can call Cheshire police on 01244 350 000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Felix Rooney, 35, is accused of conning a pensioner out of nearly £100,000 by lying that his roof needed urgent repairs. The 72-year-old victim paid out the six-figure sum for the work on his home, which was later valued by Trading Standards to have a true cost of around £1,000.
Rooney, who is Irish and has scars on his face, has links to the West Midlands, Worcester and London and uses aliases including Michael Hannon and Martin Connors. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) believe he may have shaved his head and could still be committing crimes.
He was jailed for six-and-a-half years in March 2011 after stealing money from elderly victims by getting into their homes claiming he was from the Water Board.
GMP advise anyone who sees Rooney not to approach him but to call police immediately. Anyone with information can call GMP on 0161 856 6860.
Adam James Stagg, 29, is believed to be enjoying a life of luxury in the Philippines "fully aware" he is wanted by Avon and Somerset Police for allegedly conning victims out of a total of £20,000 for luxury watches that were never delivered.
Thought to be living in Manila, Stagg is accused of committing fraud between October 2013 and June 2014. It is alleged that he set up a string of companies trading from the Philippines offering customers in the UK deals on watches costing upwards of £100. None of his 140 alleged victims received a watch and some claimed they were threatened when they tried to find out why.
Anyone with information can call Avon and Somerset Police on 01275 814 541 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Self-styled "professor" Alexia Thomas, 43, is wanted for selling fake immigration documents that cost around £300 each, but were issued by organisations that did not exist. The Nigerian is accused of helping set up companies that sold the documents, apparently provided by organisations such as "The Independent Diplomatic Commission" or "Commonwealth Liberation Party", that were later presented at court by unsuspecting victims applying for British citizenship.
Thomas used a string of aliases including Elizabeth or Lizzy with the surnames Henz; Ikuwe-Henz; Iheyen; Ikue-Henz; Ihenyue; Ikwue; Herz and Ihenyen, as well as the names Professor Thomas, Professor Summers, Martha Peterson and Alexia Bridget. She described herself as "Her Knowledgeable" on company literature.
The suspected fraudster's last known address was in Camden, north London, but she has lived in various different parts of the capital.
Faisal Butt, 39, from Lahore, Pakistan, has been convicted in his absence of stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds from more than 100 bank accounts. He was part of a criminal gang, that also included an insider at the bank, who opened joint bank accounts linked to existing customer accounts. They were then able to transfer their victims' money into the joint accounts, reset security details and get credit cards. Butt was convicted of conspiracy to defraud at the Old Bailey in his absence after it is believed he fled to Pakistan.
Anyone with information can call the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, run by Scotland Yard and the City of London Police, on 020 7709 6600.
Bayo Lawrence Anoworin, 41, from Lagos, Nigeria, is wanted by Lincolnshire Police over an alleged scam that stole more than £12 million from NHS Trusts in the UK and Guernsey between January 2011 and July 2012.
He uses a string of fake identities including John Bay, Roland Martins, Wemio Adeyemi and Adeyemi Awonorin, and is accused of fraud offences and money laundering linked to a gang that targeted the trusts.
Anoworin was arrested in Abbey Wood, south east London, in November 2012 and fled when he was released on bail. He has connections to Thamesmead, also south east London, and Chatham in Kent.
Anyone with information can call Lincolnshire Police on 01522 532222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.[/breakout]
