Serial fraudster jailed after using false name to set up business
A “thoroughly dishonest serial fraudster” tried to lie to a judge when she appeared in court for illegally setting up four businesses – before he called her bluff and jailed her.
Tina Patel had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to four charges of being involved in the formation or management of companies while she was an undischarged bankrupt.
Patel, 43, formerly of Waterfront Way, Walsall, who had used variations of her name and date of birth when registering the companies, was jailed for a total of two years.
Prosecutor Daniel White said Patel had been made bankrupt over a debt in 2002.
As a result she was barred from acting in the formation or management of any company.
Despite that, in 2013 she set up a beauty salon called Creative Salons, in Walsall, which she ran fraudulently, conning suppliers out of thousands of pounds worth of stock.
As a result, she was jailed for three-and-a-half years by a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court in May 2014.
She was later given a further 12 months for committing perjury by lying to the court during that case.
But following her release, and while still barred from running any business, in December 2015 she formed a company called Salons Unique Ltd, with a registered office in Shirley, Solihull.
Although the company was registered in the name of Teina Patel, “this defendant was one and the same person”, pointed out Mr White, who said: “It is the prosecution case she deliberately altered the spelling to avoid detection.”
And Judge Peter Cooke observed: “She has also used variations on her date of birth, the 25th, using either the two or the five, but not both.
"It is obviously a deliberate, cynical attempt at deception.”
Preet-Paul Tutt, defending, said “I implore Your Honour to show clemency and to give her one final chance to show she’s a changed individual.”
But Judge Cooke responded: “Up until 10 minutes ago she was willing, through you, to lie to the court, but would not go into the witness box. She hasn’t changed her spots.”
And jailing Patel, he told her: “For the time being at least, this country enjoys the benefits of being a private enterprise society.
“For that to function properly it requires those who direct companies to do so in an honest and transparent fashion. That is why the bankruptcy requirements are in place.
“You have cynically repeatedly breached those requirements. You are a thoroughly dishonest serial fraudster. Only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate.”
