Telford family was at centre of a series of frauds

Farook Hussain did not have a job and was on benefits – but he lived in a six-bedroom house in Wellington, Telford, drove around in top-of-the-range cars and was the head of his family’s own mini property empire.

Today, after a ban of more than two years on reporting, the Shropshire Star can reveal it was a lifestyle funded by ill-gotten gains.

The 46-year-old befriended fellow boxing fan Thomas Scragg, who is currently serving 17 years in prison for his part in a £34 million VAT and tax fraud, at fight nights in the town.

He was paid well to launder more than £600,000 in cash which was paid directly into his bank account from Scragg’s firm Moya Payroll Systems.

But his frauds did not stop there and Hussain recruited his own family members to help him pile up the cash.

A further £700,000 came through various illegal transactions linked to a number of mortgage applications in which Hussain and his family gave false information to banks and building societies.

In 1998 Farook Hussain acquired the family home, a six-bedroom semi-detached house in Mill Bank, Wellington, from his brother Jangheer. The property was mortgage-free.

In 2004 a mortgage advance of £156,000 was obtained when Farook Hussain lied about his employment and income, saying he earned £45,000 a year working as a salesman for the Badham Factory in Hadley, Telford.

Money advanced on the house was later used to purchase a three-bedroom terrace house in Watling Street, Wellington.

The mortgage application was in the name of his wife, Shabana Farook, who signed an application for a £96,000 mortgage.

At the time the Hussains claimed they had “separated” and Shabana Farook falsely said she was a shift manager at the Badham factory earning £27,000 a year.

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