A conman who posed as the owner of a showroom and failed to deliver a car after he was paid £1,850 by a customer has been jailed.

Kamran Khalid, 37, of Wood Green, was found guilty of two offences under the Fraud Act 2006 at Thames Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced on Monday, December 18.

Khalid received two 12-week sentences – one for dishonestly taking money for the second hand car and one for presenting a false cheque – to run concurrently, and was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work.

In March 2015 a man replied to an advert offering a Ford Galaxy on the Auto Trader website placed by UK Motor Sales Ltd in Salisbury Road, Chingford and arranged for a friend to view the car at the garage.

His friend was met by a man calling himself Abid who said: “This is my showroom, I am the owner,” before asking for a £350 deposit and later an additional £1,500 for the car.

After the consumer had transferred the money he did not receive the car and so requested a full refund, which was provided by cheque.

The cheque bounced and the man reported the matter to Waltham Forest Trading Standards who traced the cheque to Motorpoint (London) Ltd whose company director is Kamran Khalid.

Initially, Khalid refused to admit he was ‘Abid’ and pleaded not guilty to charges but was found guilty.

Another victim of this crime, UK Motor Sales Ltd is a legitimate business which was used by the conman to perpetrate his fraud.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “Catching and successfully prosecuting this conman was a brilliant result. His fraud could have left the consumer seriously out of pocket – but thanks to the council team the only person left out of pocket is the criminal himself.

“Anyone who fears they may have fallen victim to fraudsters should contact Trading Standards straight away. We are on your side.”

Khalid was also ordered to pay £1850 in compensation and court costs of £2468.

In a separate case, Waltham Forest Trading Standards officers successfully prosecuted two eBay sellers who offered counterfeit CDs under the seller name Juicy Mixtapes.

Ms Omobanle Ogunyemi of Walthamstow and Mr Derrone Edgar of Ilford were found guilty of copyright offences at Thames Magistrates’ Court.

They were both sentenced to four months’ imprisonment suspended for two years with a 30-day electronic curfew from 8pm to 6am. 

Full costs of £1577.45 were awarded to the council and a Forfeiture and Destruction Order was given in relation to illicit CDs seized during the operation.