Posted by STRING OF CHARGES |
STRING OF CHARGES |
Co Down businessman to stand trial accused of multimillion-pound international Bitcoin fraud
Jawad Yaqub faces a string of charges including one of falsely claiming he had a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast
Paul Higgins
Yesterday at 14:00
A Co Down businessman was ordered today to stand trial accused of a multimillion-pound international Bitcoin cryptocurrency fraud.
Holywood-based company director Jawad Yaqub (45) is accused of frauds against organisations in the US and Australia.
The string of charges also include one of falsely claiming he had a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast.
Appearing at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court, Yaqub confirmed he understood the 25 charges against him and that he did not object to the case being returned to the Crown Court for trial.
The charges cover a time span between February 2016 and October 2018.
Yaqub, from Ben Vista Park in Holywood, faces 19 charges of converting criminal property and four counts of fraud by false representation.
He faces single charges of fraudulent training and theft.
While the alleged facts surrounding the charges have not been opened in court, the charge sheets reveal that, according to the Crown’s case, Yaqub was a director in Razormind Limited but carried on his business “for a fraudulent purpose”.
It is alleged the fraudulent purpose was to “defraud participants in the DeOS crowdsale”.
The fraud-by-false-representation charges allege that Yaqub claimed Razormind Limited “is a world-leading information technology services company providing a wide range of services to a substantial and diversified client base including corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals”.
Yaqub is alleged to have made false representations to a list of firms and organisations including Bank Of America, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Chubb, Deutsche Lufthansa, Farmers Mutual Group, Health Partners, Telefonica O2 and Texas Public Schools.
Co Down businessman to stand trial accused of multimillion-pound international Bitcoin fraud
Jawad Yaqub faces a string of charges including one of falsely claiming he had a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast
Paul Higgins
Yesterday at 14:00
A Co Down businessman was ordered today to stand trial accused of a multimillion-pound international Bitcoin cryptocurrency fraud.
Holywood-based company director Jawad Yaqub (45) is accused of frauds against organisations in the US and Australia.
The string of charges also include one of falsely claiming he had a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast.
Appearing at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court, Yaqub confirmed he understood the 25 charges against him and that he did not object to the case being returned to the Crown Court for trial.
The charges cover a time span between February 2016 and October 2018.
Yaqub, from Ben Vista Park in Holywood, faces 19 charges of converting criminal property and four counts of fraud by false representation.
He faces single charges of fraudulent training and theft.
While the alleged facts surrounding the charges have not been opened in court, the charge sheets reveal that, according to the Crown’s case, Yaqub was a director in Razormind Limited but carried on his business “for a fraudulent purpose”.
It is alleged the fraudulent purpose was to “defraud participants in the DeOS crowdsale”.
The fraud-by-false-representation charges allege that Yaqub claimed Razormind Limited “is a world-leading information technology services company providing a wide range of services to a substantial and diversified client base including corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals”.
Yaqub is alleged to have made false representations to a list of firms and organisations including Bank Of America, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Chubb, Deutsche Lufthansa, Farmers Mutual Group, Health Partners, Telefonica O2 and Texas Public Schools.
Taxi driver sacked after dashcam footage shows passenger threatened with ‘gun’• Yesterday 21:00
Taxi driver sacked after dashcam footage shows passenger threatened with ‘gun’© Provided by Irish Examiner
Ataxi driver in Northern Ireland has been sacked after social media footage emerged appearing to show a passenger being threatened with a suspected gun.
Police have launched an investigation after dashcam footage of the episode was circulated widely on social media.
Taxi company Fonacab said it had “terminated” its relationship with a driver with immediate effect.
The company said it was made aware of the footage late on Wednesday night and had been liaising with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA).
Fonacab said the incident did not relate to a “passenger booking” and the driver captured in the footage had “logged off and was not working for Fonacab at the time of the incident”.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI urged anyone with information to come forward.
“Police are aware of a video circulating online showing a man with a suspected firearm and have launched an investigation,” she said.
Fonacab said after it was made aware of the footage it told a male driver to present himself at head office.
The company said that driver was “interviewed and his relationship with Fonacab immediately terminated”.
“Fonacab has been liaising with the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) Northern Ireland and the PSNI and any further action will be determined by them,” the statement added.
“Our investigation was completed and our action taken before the footage was released on social media. Due to the nature of the content of the footage, it would be inappropriate to make any further comment on the footage while other investigations are undertaken.
“We will however state that any action which affects the safety of our passengers, staff and drivers is never acceptable and should any infringement occur will be dealt with immediately by Fonacab and referred to the appropriate authorities.
“Drivers at Fonacab complete the same training and vetting as all taxi drivers in Northern Ireland and in addition we expect them to maintain the high standards that we hold ourselves to.
“We average 100,000 bookings per week, and we do everything we can to ensure that each of those customers is given the same high level of professional service.”
The company said it does not tolerate incidents where “safety is compromised, standards are not upheld, or the company and our drivers are called into disrepute”.
Who Watches the Watchers? 