• Couple were caught out when Mohammed Arfan was found to be selling illegal drugs from his off licence
• His wife, Riffit, pleaded guilty to nine offences of mortgage fraud, false accounting, money laundering and acquiring criminal property
• Mohammed was jailed for three years for mortgage fraud, false accounting, money laundering and fraudulent activity to obtain tax credits
• He was jailed for four years for dealing drugs
  

By
Richard Hartley-parkinson

PUBLISHED:

07:12 EST, 20 April 2012

|

UPDATED:

07:14 EST, 20 April 2012

A corner shop owner embarked on a life of luxury with his wife by executing a ‘Prince and Pauper’ fraud worth £700,000.

Mohammed Arfan, 39, and his 41-year old wife Riffit pocketed almost £100,000 in tax credits for their four children by saying he was broke and earned only £5,000 a year.

At the same time the couple claimed they were earning £100,000 a year using false references to fraudulently claim a string of mortgage loans.

Mohammed (left) and Riffit Arfan (right) told authorities they earned just £5,000 but they told banks they earned £100,000 to fraudulently claim benefits and secure loans to buy businesses, cars and houses

They owned two homes, two businesses and drove a Range Rover Sport worth £62,000 and a £38,000 BMW X5.

The couple lived in a neat £200,000 semi-detached house in a cul-de-sac in Bury, Greater Manchester and Riffit set up her own fashion business.

Their six-year fraud came to an end in 2010 after Arfan was arrested and charged with dealing drugs at his off licence in Stretford.

Police began investigating the couple’s finances and during a two year inquiry discovered they were living a life ‘well beyond their means.’

The two houses had been bought as a result of multiple false mortgage applications and Riffit was also found to have obtained a false mortgage to buy her fashion shop whilst the couple were claiming tax credits and other significant benefits.

She failed to declare the shop to the authorities and even moved a tenant into the flat above – so could illegally pocket housing benefits.

Today Arfan was starting a three year jail sentence after pleading guilty to 15 offences of mortgage fraud, false accounting, money laundering and fraudulent activity to obtain tax credits.

Riffit pleaded guilty to nine offences of mortgage fraud, false accounting, money laundering and acquiring criminal property and was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years.

After the case Ian Horrocks, Financial Investigator from GMP’s Serious Crime Division said: ‘The Arfans’ were living a lifestyle and driving around in cars that many honest hard-working people can only dream of.

Riffit Arfan was found to have obtained a false mortgage to buy her shop, Sahil Fashions

‘There is no doubt much of this money came from their illegal activities as neither had any discernible legitimate disclosed income that could fund such spending.

‘In addition to this, they were still claiming benefits and taking away money that is there to support those who genuinely need it.

‘Riffit’s CV, which was recovered following her arrest, even went as far to say that she was adept at filling in official forms, such as income support and disability allowance.

‘This couple tried to hide their criminal dishonesty behind a tangled web of 24 bank accounts. However, we were able to unpick their finances and discover exactly what money they had been spending.’

Bolton Crown Court heard the applications were dishonestly filled out by the couple to obtain mortgages, loans and state benefits between 2003 and 2009.

Ben Myers, prosecuting, said the police investigation into the couple’s finances began in 2010 after Arfan was jailed for four years for drug dealing from his shop and running a cannabis farm, nearby.

It emerged Arfan had claimed to earn just £5,000 a year from his shop to obtain £77,000 benefits only to then falsely say his annual wage was £72,000 to win mortgage loans.

He was granted a loan of £15,000 after giving false references along with his wife and another loan for £38,000 to buy the BMW X5 before converting that to successfully applying to a building society for a mortgage of £174,000.

He then used that money to buy a property in Bury, which was later used to run his cannabis farm.

The couple told banks to buy property and cars including this £200,000 property and a BMW X5

His wife successfully applied for a loan for £93,500, giving a dishonest annual income of £35,000 then used it to buy another property in Bury, from which she set up a fashion outlet.

Yet to the DWP she never declared any income made and sold the property, making a profit.

The couple also jointly applied for a loan to re-mortgage their property – for around £76,000. They acquired the Range Rover through hire purchase.

In mitigation defence counsel Mr Mohammed Qazi, for Arfan, said: ‘He expressed deep remorse and real appreciation that he has committed serious offences and how he intends to turn his life around.’

‘He met his wife and married her against his family’s wishes which led to him being isolated for a number of years. This has led to him seeking to establish his own lifestyle and family.’

For Riffit, defence counsel Mr Jonathan Drury said her business had not been a success and there were still outstanding arrears. She had since been working as a clerk was looking after the children, one of which suffers from a spine disorder.

He added: ‘The situation has caused her severed stress and she has been on medication. It’s not just her life hanging in the balance; it’s also her four children’s. They will have to go into care – it would make the damage exceptional.’

Passing sentence Judge Martin Allweis told the couple: ‘This was a persistent and sophisticated dishonesty to bolster your income and assets over a period of six years or so.

‘You left no stone unturned. You falsely obtained benefits, cheating the public and finance companies by falsely declaring income.’

‘I’m told that you’re remorseful – but I have no doubt you are sorry you have been caught and I have no doubt you are sorry for the impact on you and your family.’

‘But you were cheating the whole public.’

• 
  ‘I was really checking her out’: Married Secret Service…

• 
  The woman who shamed the Secret Service: ‘Colombian hooker’…

• 
  Did police miss the chance to find vital clues in hunt for…

• 
  How internet porn turned my beautiful boy into a hollow,…

• 
  Is this the Loch Ness Monster? Sonar picture shows…

• 
  Are these Britain’s worst wedding pictures? Newlyweds…

• 
  Katie Couric rocked by claims former toyboy lover cheated on…

• 
  Book claims JFK’s mistress was assassinated by the CIA…

• 
  The Pregnant Man splits from his wife just as he finalises…

• 
  ‘I’m sorry for the loss of your son… I did not know if he…

• 
  Revealed: Investment banker who made online dating…

• 
  Aspiring Bollywood actress beheaded and thrown into a tank…

Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:00pm EDT

Singapore, one of the hottest property markets in Asia, is set to see a drop of up to 15 percent in prices of luxury homes this year, as foreign demand dries up on account of tightening measures and global economic uncertainty.

In December Singapore introduced an Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty, which requires foreigners, and not PRs, buying residential property to pay a 10 percent stamp duty on top of the 3 percent already in place.

Jin Kaur, a property agent in Singapore with global real estate services company Century 21, says her foreign clients, most of who are based in India, have put off their plans to buy multi-million dollar properties in Singapore due to the additional duty.

“I had a big shot client in India who was looking to buy a home in Sentosa Cove in December, the next day the government announced the stamp duty hike and the deal completely stopped in its tracks,” Kaur said. Singapore’s Sentosa Cove is one of the few seafront residential districts of its kind in Asia.

“The luxury segment is quiet now. Most of the transactions are happening in the mass market segment below S$1.5 million,” Kaur added.

This Manhattan pad is as stunning as its owner, and she’s poised to make a killing off it — if someone can persuade her to sell.

Russian actress/heiress Anna Anisimova, 27, is selling her spectacular 75th-floor Time Warner Center apartment at an asking price more striking than its panoramic views — $50 million.

The daughter of Russian billionaire industrialist Vasily Anisimov purchased the three-bedroom mansion in the clouds for $9.86 million in 2004, when sales at the “five-star” residence kicked off.

Since then, her neighbors in the sky-high haven have included Ricky Martin, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.

Anisimova’s broker, senior vice president Lauren Muss of The Corcoran Group, says the phone is ringing off the hook with interest in the 10-room, 3,923 square-foot home.

“It’s been on the market six days, and we’ve had a ton of showings. It’s crazy!” says Muss, one of the city’s top-producing brokers. “I get more calls for this than I do for my listings at the $5 million price point. There’s just not a lot of inventory up at this level.”

That’s because it’s one of the city’s true trophy homes. Designed by Noel Jeffries, one of the world’s leading designers, the urban palace boasts 14-foot ceilings, sprawling views of Central Park, a double-sized bedroom as large as some one-bedroom apartments, limestone floors and Venetian plaster walls.

There are also his-and-her baths. Anisimova’s personal bathroom features a marble and mosaic Jacuzzi tub set against floor-to-ceiling windows.

“This is an owner with exceptional taste,” says Muss, a personal friend of Anisimova, who moved to L.A. to get serious about acting. “Nothing needs to be done here. That’s rare — even for homes at this price.”

If it fetches its asking price, the deal would become the second-highest, per-square foot figure ever recorded for a New York City apartment — at almost $13,000 per square-foot.

The top-priced city apartment was purchased several months ago, for $88 million, at 15 Central Park West by Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the daughter of another Russian billionaire.

Anisimova’s place is also for rent, with a monthly tab of $60,000. Muss reports offers are already on the table, and said her client, who had a role in last year’s “The Whisteblower,” would rather rent.

jsheftell@nydailynews.com

SHILLINGTON, Pa.

Late author John Updike’s childhood home is for sale and facing an uncertain future.

The nonprofit John Updike Society wants to buy the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer’s house with a $200,000 foundation gift to preserve it as a museum and headquarters. But that’s contingent upon Shillington borough granting a zoning variance, which takes time, to address potential parking and traffic concerns in the residential neighborhood.

Current owner Tracy Hoffmann, who runs an advertising and marketing firm in the house, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, said he can’t wait any longer for a sales agreement. He and seven employees plan to move their business next month to a new location.

“After a period of months, all I have is a gentleman’s agreement, but nothing signed,” he told the Reading Eagle newspaper for a story Wednesday. Several months ago, the owners unsuccessfully tried to sell the house on eBay with a $249,000 starting bid.

Updike, who won Pulitzers for the novels “Rabbit Is Rich” and “Rabbit at Rest,” died in 2009 at age 76. He spent the first 13 years of his life in the Shillington house.

James Plath, president of the 230-member John Updike Society, said the group won’t sign an agreement without the zoning approvals it needs.

“What we are proposing is a very low-traffic, a very small historic site operation,” said Plath, an English professor at Illinois-Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill. “It would be an author’s home and open only by appointment or have limited hours of operation.”

Plath said he wants to make sure the proposed historic site would not disrupt the residential nature of the area.

“But the society is a nonprofit and not a deep-pocket organization,” he said. “That’s why any final purchase of the site has to be contingent on getting a variance to be able to use the house in this limited way.”

Michael Mountz, borough manager and zoning officer, said he has seen several instances of agreements of sale that were made contingent on approval of variances.

He said the Updike house has a commercial variance originally given for a doctor’s office there but another variance would be needed for the historic home site.

“I really haven’t heard any public feedback on plans for the house,” Mountz said. “Naturally, we would do everything we could to expedite the process.”

Shillington Councilman Clifford Galvin said there can be no assurances of a variance until the zoning board, then council, consider the request.