A group of fraudsters managed to steal a total of £195,000 in government grants by pretending to run a group of businesses, including a Greggs bakery.
Rochdale, St Helens, and Thurrock councils all provided money to Rais Kayani after a number of false applications were made for the Small Business Grant Fund.
The councils were defrauded out of £75,000, £35,000, and £85,000 respectively within the space of just five days, with those responsible later transferring a large proportion of the funds to America and Hong Kong.
Between the period of 4 May and 9 May 2020, fraudsters impersonated the popular high street bakery chain Greggs in order to secure cash from St Helens council.
A court heard that genuine business rate account numbers were used by the group in order to support the false applications, with thousands of pounds in funds then awarded to fraudsters by the local authority.
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Investigators were unable to discover exactly who submitted the applications. They were, however, able to track the payments to an account for a company based in Luton, Beds, called RAK Traders and Services Ltd.
Rais Kayani, 31, was revealed as the sole director of the company, and bank statements from the business account showed that a total of £195,000 had been received from the three different local authorities in the corresponding period.
A few days after the money was paid into the account by the various councils, statements show £100,000 leaving on 12 May to an American account.
Shortly afterward, $47,500 was transferred from the American dollar account to another bank account, this time in Hong Kong.
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Appearing at trial at Southwark Crown Court, Kayani plead guilty to a single charge of entering into a money laundering arrangement and was given a 16 months jail term, suspended for 18 months.
A suspended sentence is served in the community rather than in prison and is designed to allow the offender probation and rehabilitation.
The Crown Prosecution Service has since recovered £155,000 of taxpayer’s money and is seeking a confiscation order to retrieve the rest.
Speaking after sentencing, Ben Reid of the CPS said: “At a time of national emergency during the COVID-19 crisis, vast government funds were released to support struggling businesses across the country.
“Kayani was the cynical beneficiary of a series of false applications to local authorities in different parts of the country from where his business operated.
“Having dishonestly benefitted from the fraudulent applications for the Small Business Grant Fund, he transferred the proceeds overseas.
“We have already recovered £155,000 of taxpayer’s money and will now seek a confiscation order for the remaining funds.”
Northern bakery with Greater Manchester pop-up fires back perfectly at ‘bigots’
Danny Jones
All of us were no doubt hoping to start off 2026 on a completely positive footing, but we were gutted to see some of the messages and comments received by cult Northern favourites, Finch Bakery – still, at least they responded in a pitch-perfect way.
Who doesn’t love a good comeback?
In case you haven’t seen the story yet, Lancashire-born independent business Finch Bakery were met with a series of what they have quite rightly dubbed as “ill-educated, bigoted conversations” with a number of users on social media over flagging that lots of their food is halal-friendly.
Surely just a bonus and therefore a good thing across the board, right? Well, you would think so, but unfortunately, the beloved indies were still somehow met with backlash.
Sharing their reaction in the caption to this post, sharing a glimpse at some of the remarks they received, Finch Bakery wrote: “Just in case anyone was wondering why we’re halal-friendly: we have Muslim friends. We want to be inclusive.
“Everyone deserves to be able to shop where they want based on dietary requirements, whether that’s for religious or cultural reasons, allergy or intolerance purposes, sensory reasons, or digestive disorders.
“And we will continue to try and provide a selection for all of these people as long as it’s safe for us to do so (like our lack of a GF kitchen means we cannot provide gluten-free items). It also makes business sense to try to cater to as many people as possible.
“If you’re going to slide into an inclusive business’ DMs and then immediately block them, don’t think I won’t come for you. Yes, I’m 34. Yes, I’m a mum of 2. Yes, I’m a grown-up (apparently).”
The response to the messages, which left the team and countless others among their customer base ‘rolling their eyes’, continues: “You don’t have to agree with something to respect someone’s choices. Especially when we’re not adding any meat products into our brownies.
“We will and always will be inclusive for a wider group of people, and we are proud to be halal-friendly. If you don’t like it. Please unfollow.” Well said, guys.
The bakery itself was founded by two twin sisters, Rachel and Lauren Finch, who are now approaching more than a decade of success since opening their first proper location in Great Harwood near Blackburn. They now have pop-ups as part of the Selfridges chain.
We also enjoyed how they used it as an opportunity to simply show more of their stunning menu, which – while not fully Halal Certified – has extensive disclaimers and signposting towards what is appropriate for different diets.
Many of those individuals in question are said to have unfollowed the brand on Instagram; however, their hundreds of thousands of fans across the North West and online have sent plenty of love and praise for how they handled the situation, not to mention respecting other cultures and life choices.
If you want to show your support for a brand doing things right, which also happens to be bloody delicious, go and try some of their brilliant bakes at their site in The Trafford Centre.
Featured Images — Finch Bakery (via Instagram)/The Manc Group
Eats
A restaurant dedicated to all things truffle is opening in the Northern Quarter
Daisy Jackson
A new restaurant and takeaway with a menu dedicated to truffle-infused dishes is opening in the Northern Quarter.
Mother Truffler is set to open on Tib Street, taking over the former Kingfisher chippy (which we didn’t even know had shut down).
Signs have appeared in the windows of the corner unit, which will count venues like Siop Shop and Ad Maiora as neighbours.
Mother Truffler has been successfully operating as a dark kitchen with glowing reviews on delivery platforms, but is now venturing out into its first bricks and mortar site.
Based on their delivery menu, Mother Truffler will be serving a menu of different burgers, each one featuring a truffle-infused sauce.
And there’s a gap in the market for burgers in the Northern Quarter since the closure of Super Awesome Deluxe.
Founder Youssef Taha has been sharing updates of the renovation of the space, as work gets underway to transform the old chippy into a truffle restaurant.
The new website states: “Proudly crafting truffle-rich food in the heart of Manchester. Rooted in quality. Inspired by truffle.”
And menu items are set to include smash burgers with truffle mayo, chicken burgers with truffle ranch, truffle parmesan fries, and a range of other mouth-watering sides.
Georgina Pellant -
5th July 2023 
