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Abu Hamza's sons jailed over £1million car scam
28.05.09
Three sons of jailed hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza were jailed today for their involvement in a £1million luxury car scam.
Hamza's sons, Hamza Kamel, 22, and Mohamed Mostafa, 27, helped run the two-year fraud with the cleric's stepson Mohssin Ghailam, 28, Southwark Crown Court has heard.
Judge Gregory Stone QC, sentencing seven men for their involvement in the case, said it involved "serious criminality" and he had no alternative but to jail them all.
He said Kamel, of Acton, west London had pleaded guilty to counts of dishonest handling of stolen cars and money laundering, and would go to prison for two and a half years.
Mostafa, also of Acton, had pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, which involved the use of a false French passport and a utility bill, and would go to prison for two years.
Ghailam had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and was described as a "key player". He was jailed for four years.
The court heard that the plotters exploited a loophole in the vehicle registration system to target expensive makes of car including Mercedes, BMW and Range Rover which had been left in long-stay car parks.
Pretending the vehicles were theirs, they tricked the DVLA into transferring ownership to an alias and sending new log books to front addresses.
Keys were then obtained from dealers and the cars stolen, before being sold to unsuspecting buyers or used as collateral to take out loans which were never repaid.
The court heard the men were arrested on November 5, 2008, following a Met Police investigation into the organised theft and resale of luxury cars in London.
The prosecution said officers identified 32 vehicles which were either stolen, targeted for theft or used as collateral to obtain loans fraudulently. A number had been taken abroad and sold.
The value of the vehicles if they had been sold as new would have exceeded £1million.
The court heard the gang would pick out cars left in long-stay car parks and apply to the DVLA to change the address.
If the DVLA did not receive a reply from the original address within 14 days a new log book would be sent out.
Knowing the legitimate owners were away, the defendants would then inform the DVLA the name of the registered keeper had also changed, enabling them to obtain keys for the vehicle.
Reader views (17)
Britain, my homeland, is bankrupt both finacialy and moraly!
- Dean, Worcester
counts of dishonest handling,.......... no that's not possible Dad is a Muslim clerical ! Oh sorry, plant a seed and the offspring is the same !
- Edouard, Toulouse, France
P (Staker?), it's me, hard-working tax-paying Austen. Don't you do irony?
- Austen, London
Austin, London
"they're ordinary decent criminals, unlike their dad"
Oh well that's OK then isn't it, thanks for sharing your "luvvie" thoughts with all of the decent hard working taxpayers on here.
I'm sure we all feel much better now.
- P, London, SW8
And, also, how dim can the DVLA be to have such an easily breached system?
- Peter, Norfolk and Sydney
Kerry, Purley
Couldn't have said it better myself!
- Mrs, London UK
Pathetically short sentences, what's wrong with our judges?
- Teddy, Islington, London
Well the apple didn't fall far from the tree did it. So is anyone actually surprised, just look at the father. What a nice family they are indeed.
- Alan, East London
Surely under Sharia law these little Hamza's should have their hands cut off, No?
Is the taxpayer still keeping Hamza's breeding female in the luxury to which she has become accustomed?
- Kerry, Purley
Why does a cricketer who moves £140k of coke get 13 years and these absolute scumbags get 2 years for £1m theft??? The real problem in this country is the judiciary not the government (well the government is a close 2nd)
- Nore, London, UK
Look on the bright side - they're ordinary decent criminals, unlike their dad.
- Austen, London
Once they serve their terms they MUST then be deported.
- John Joe, SW6, London
They must be a greedy bunch. Aren't I already paying thousands to keep hook hands Hamza and his bunch of pilfering scumbag sons already?
- Fred, Horsham
Welcome to labour's Britain!!
- Chris, Brighton, England
What a delightfull family. And still we allow this vermin to breed. Hope they have a great holiday at our expense
- Maggie, london
Not long enough.
- Isabel, Woking
THESE CROOKS WILL GO TO A LUXURY PRISON FOR A FEW MONTHS - THEN THEY WILL BE FREE TO CARRY ON WHERE THEY LEFT OFF.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe UK
