On July 17th 2019 Gazette Live reported that prominent local businessman Adil Ditta, a former owner of Akbar’s Restaurant, had appeared at Southwark Crown Court to face a string of fraud charges totaling approximately £850,000. Two years on it is now possible for the first time to report the outcome of the proceedings, which concluded on July 15th 2021 at the Court of Appeal before the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp.
Proceedings, concluded on July 15th 2021 at the Court of Appeal before the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp. On August 2nd 2019 HHJ Tomlinson halted the proceedings as an abuse of process. Unusually the prosecution case was brought by a private individual, not a public prosecution via police and CPS. Instead of a police investigation the prosecution relied upon an investigation carried out by Tanveer Hussain of Harrow Road, Middlesbrough, instead of the Crown Prosecution Service a Lahore based businessman called Muhammed Asif acted as the prosecutor.
At its initial hearing at Southwark Crown Court in 2019 Judge Tomlinson ruled against Mr Asif’s prosecution stating “without hesitation” that a man named Mohammad Safdar Gohir was the actual person behind the prosecution and that Mr Asif was no more than a proxy “front man”. In a bold move against the criminal system, Mohammad Gohir and Mr Asif chose to continue to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeal. Their application was considered by Lord Justice Davis who rejected it, upheld the original Judgment and refused leave to appeal to the Full Court of Appeal. Despite this Asif and Gohir lodged a further appeal to the Full Court. Because of delays caused by the Covid pandemic, the renewed appeal could not be disposed of until July 2021.
Originally from Huddersfield, Mr Mohammad Gohir is best known around his home town areas of Huddersfield and Bradford in West Yorkshire and to business people in Teesside as “Uncle Saff”. In 2009 the High Court found that he had used the companies Calltel Telecom Limited and Opto Telelinks Limited to cheat the UK tax authorities of approximately £18million. In May 2014 he was arrested in Las Vegas and extradited to Germany for a carbon emission fraud estimated to have cost the EU at least £130million. He was eventually sentenced to 8 years imprisonment in Frankfurt.
“Uncle Saff” Gohir is described as an extremely powerful and wealthy playboy; a fan and close friend of boxing legend Amir Khan, who used his wealth to get close to figures such as ex-Prime Minister David Cameron and to influence other celebrity business associates to aid his business ventures in the UK, Dubai and Pakistan.
The case was eventually heard by the Full Court of Appeal led by the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp. The court concluded “without hesitation” that Mohammad Safdar Gohir was indeed the moving force behind the prosecution and that Mr Asif was no more than a proxy prosecutor. The case was described as an attempt “to pull the wool over the court’s eyes”. The court went on to rule that the prosecution was brought for oppressive reasons. Further, the case would never have been brought if it had been referred to the police and CPS. The court ordered that the full costs of the case should be paid by Mohammad Safdar Gohir and Muhammed Asif. It is estimated that the total costs for all parties will be close to £1million.
Mr Adil Ditta, commenting on the Judgment says, “this has been a difficult 2 years for both my family and myself. We were very disappointed with those who assisted Mohammad Safdar Gohir in pursuing his dishonest abuse of the court’s process. Safdar Gohir is an extremely wealthy man who tried to use his wealth to manipulate the court system. He will now be responsible for all legal costs, time and money wasted during the case. I wish to thank everyone at Watson Woodhouse who have helped me and my family to achieve justice and restore my business reputation”.
James Watson, founder of Watson Woodhouse Solicitors who defended Mr Ditta commented, “Mohammad Safdar Gohir set out to demonstrate the power of money. He now understands the power of truth and the power of the English common law. I am delighted for Adil and his family.”
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For the full Court judgement: