A group of criminals have been sentenced after they conspired to obtain 42 fraudulent loan applications, leading to a loss of approximately £1 million to a UK bank. Married couple Cebrail and Munube Polat, of Enfield North London, schemed with Ezzu Ahmet of Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, to de-fraud a bank via an unregulated company based in Wood Green called Bee Finance.

Polat and Polat were charged with conspiracy to make fraudulent representations along with bank staff Matthew Wood and Lawrence Taylor, both of North London.

Between May 2018 and August 2019 Polat, Polat and Ahmet conspired together to obtain fraudulent bank loans, making applications for the loans using false payslips.

The gang were sentenced on 27th July 2023 with Mr and Mrs Polat receiving seven and six-year sentences respectively, while Ahmet has been given a suspended two-year sentence.

Detective Constable Matthew Cornell who investigated the case for the DCPCU, commented:

These criminals thought they could get away with a large-scale fraud operation, stealing approximately one million pounds.

Fortunately, we were able to identify these individuals and put a stop to their criminal activity, after working closely with the banking and finance industry.

This sentencing will warn anyone who believes they can benefit financially from committing fraud, showing that they will be caught and brought to justice