A man has been found guilty of defrauding a city council out of £710,000 by pretending to be a property manager for bakery chain Greggs. Aftab Baig, 47, made fraudulent small business grant claims from Leeds City Council against 32 properties which he claimed were branches of the firm during the Covid pandemic in May 2020. Baig, who had no affiliation with Greggs and was not employed by the company, was caught out and the majority of the money was later returned to the council. Baig was convicted of three counts of fraud at Leeds Crown Court.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed that Baig contacted Leeds City Council posing as a group property manager at the bakery chain’s head office. He requested business rates numbers for the Leeds branches, claiming he couldn’t access the information himself due to the lockdown. Baig then used the details to apply for the Small Business Grant Fund, with the money being deposited into an account linked to his catering business. This grant was part of government schemes aimed at supporting small businesses during the pandemic. When the council discovered the fraudulent claims, the account was frozen, and Baig was arrested in Glasgow two months later.
Kelly Ward from the CPS stated that Baig exploited the pandemic’s difficult circumstances in 2020 to defraud the council of taxpayers’ money. Ward emphasized that those who defraud the public purse are essentially stealing funds that should be allocated to services and the community. Proceedings will be initiated to recover any assets resulting from Baig’s criminal acts, with the defendant set to be sentenced on March 31. A spokesperson for Leeds City Council expressed shock at the situation, as the money was meant to aid local businesses during a challenging period. The council thanked everyone involved in the investigation for ensuring justice was served
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