Fallen bridging millionaire faces further shame

Fallen bridging millionaire faces further shame




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The man who was once named one of Britain's richest Asian men has been ordered to wear an electronic tag, after he breached a court order.

42-year-old Shaid Luqman - who formed his fallen bridging finance firm, Lexi Holdings, in 2000 -  was jailed for two years in July 2007 and found liable for more than £100 million in funds, allegedly misappropriated from his collapsed business empire.

Since that time, Luqman has breached numerous court orders, attempting to flee from Britain on several occasions.

The Manchester Evening News reported that in his latest court breach Luqman attempted to apply for new travel documentation, claiming that his old passport had been mislaid in a house move, when in fact it had been seized by authorities.

Luqman, who formerly lived in Hale, near Altrincham, had been ordered not to apply for new travel documents, and had already served two jail terms for ignoring court orders.

At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court he escaped an immediate third jail term and was instead ordered to wear an electronic tag for three months and given a 10 months' jail sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Judge Timothy Mort said that Luqman, who now allegedly suffers from panic attacks and flashbacks, was not a well man.

Luqman admitted fraud after a charge of perverting the course of justice and was dismissed.

Judge Mort said: “As and when it suits you, you resort to dishonesty.

“You filed an application to get a new passport saying your old one had been mislaid in a house move. They spotted, however, that this was untrue but it was quite clear that you must have known that it was.

"You had recently seen a doctor and you said to him that your passport was taken away and you hadn’t seen your father, who had suffered a heart attack, in 18 months. It is also clear that your mother had also been hospitalised.

“You must realise this a serious offence as it was in complete defiance of a court order.

“My view is that your purpose was to gain the mobility to see your parents but not to leave the jurisdiction for good as your roots are here. It seems to me that bearing in mind you have served two custodial sentences and with regards to your health, I think the seriousness of this offence can be represented by a suspended sentence.

“It is undoubtedly true you have serious psychological issues.”

Luqman began building his property empire whilst he was studying finance at Manchester University. By the time he graduated in 1991 he owned 24 houses which he rented to other students.

After gaining experience in banking, Luqman then formed his bridging finance firm, often lending to MPs, footballers and entrepreneurs.

In 2004 Ernst and Young named the multimillionaire 'Young Entrepreneur of The Year'.

However, Luqman's immense wealth was short lived, as in 2007 Luqman was banned from running a company for 15 years, and branded 'completely dishonest' by a High Court judge. He had his business assets seized by administrators.

He has since served two prison terms for contempt of court.

Defending, Mark Ford said: “The defendant has lived with the pressure of proceedings for about five years now and tells me proceedings have taken their toll on him. In fact, he has been admitted to hospital as an in-patient on occasion and is still receiving treatment.

“The defendant suffers from panic attacks and flashbacks and he views with anxiety the concept of having an electronic tag.”

 

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