3 Owners of Shiza Jewellers and Zaiver Jewellers Jailed for 18 Years for selling fake gold bracelets

Three jewellers named Ibrar Hussain, 38, and Sabhia Shaheen, 40, of Shiza Jewellers, based at 681 Stratford Road, Mohammed Afsar, 47, also known as Malik, of Zaiver Jewellers, based at 787 Stratford Road who falsely claimed that sets of gold bangles they manufactured and sold were made from higher quality gold have been jailed for a total of 18 years.

They passed off low quality gold bangles as 22 carat by infilling them with silver copper and other alloys and applying a heavy gold plate to finish.


Police officers carried out test purchases of gold bangle sets described as 22 carat at both jewellers – but when tested by the Assay Office, the bangles were found to be of low quality gold and in some cases could only be hallmarked at no more than 14 carats.


By this scam they were able to increase their profits per set of bangles by as much as £1,200.


They had been involved in fake business for more than five years and it estimated trio profited by as much as £1 million over that period.


All three were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, which heard that Hussain, identified as the ringleader, would travel across the country selling the fake bangles to other unsuspecting jewellers, as well as via eBay.


Officers also found fake gold bangles at their residence in Handsworth and Bearwood where secret workshops had been set up to manufacture the bangles.


Ibrar Hussain was jailed for total 7 years,  5 years for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, plus 2 years of the witness intimidation offences which will run consecutively.


Sabhia Shaheen was jailed for 3 years for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and disqualified from being a director for 7 years.


Mohammed Afsar was jailed for total 8 years, 4 years for conspiracy to commit fraud and 4 years for the blackmail offence, which will run concurrently.