Pakistani origin couple found guilty of scam

Five persons were charged including a Pakistani origin couple with a multi-million pound conspiracy to defraud the world’s music industry. The case is the result of a yearlong investigation by the Metropolitan Police into CD copyright theft and pirating of legitimate music. Charges were levelled by a British Crown Court has found a Pakistani origin couple guilty of running a multi-million pound scam to defraud the music industry. According to East London Police, 38-year-old Naveed Shaikh and his wife Farhat Nissa of North London had been charged with conspiring to defraud the music industry between a period of seven months in 2005, police said.
Their accomplices and market traders Ayaz Javed Qureshi and Wasim Mir had also pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiring to defraud. Wasim’s twin brother Nadim was not found guilty. It is believed to be the largest and most complex music fraud of its kind to date in the UK. The investigation began as a result of information supplied by the music industries British and international trade organisations. Police officers attended South East London Woolwich market and arrested two persons operating a market stall selling pirated CDs. Approximately 2000 discs were seized. The arrests directly led to a further arrest within east London and the seizure of an additional 35,000 illegal CDs in a warehouse.
The investigation continued and later in 2005 further search warrants were executed at addresses in Hertfordshire and North London. As a result of these raids further pirate music product and property including computers and manufacturing equipment was seized. One person was arrested at the scene and a second voluntarily attended a police station where they were arrested. All persons were interviewed throughout the course of the investigation and subsequently released on police bail.