Footage shows moment ringleader of £500K car number plate scam arrested after fleeing to Dubai

Zahid Khan made off to the Middle East during a trial in 2018, where he was eventually convicted of running a car number plate scam that promised to see him take home £500,000.

Khan jumped police bail and fled, leaving relatives to take the blame for his crimes.

The 38-year-old, previously of Yardley Wood Road, Moseley, was the ringleader of a group which stole the rights to high-value, personalised number plates.

He was found guilty in his absence and handed a 10-year prison sentence.

Later in 2018, Khan was also convicted in his absence of people smuggling after bringing illegal Afghan immigrants into the UK.

The conviction came after Khan was stopped at Dover on November 8, 2015, in a BMW being driven in convoy with a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).

Inside the HGV, which was registered to his business, five Afghan nationals were found hiding among a load of tyres.

Khan ran his number plate scam by fraudulently obtaining DVLA paperwork that enabled the gang to transfer ownership of five high-value number plates − 2K, 8G, 9H, 9J and C1 − without the owners’ knowledge.

He then sold the 2K plate for £85,000 to an unwitting customer and was in the process of cashing in on the others, having approached a specialist Black Country dealer offering 8G and 9H for sale.

They provisionally agreed on a price until a salesman contacted a past customer to see if they would be interested in buying an 8G plate, only to be told they already owned it and it was adorning a car on their driveway.

Police also uncovered evidence which linked Khan to six stolen cars being run on false plates.

Since his conviction, officers have been working to bring Khan back to the UK to face justice.

He was arrested by Turkish authorities on November 27 last year and on December 22, he was deported back to the UK.

Newly released video footage captured by police on body-worn cameras shows the moment he was arrested at Manchester Airport before being taken back to the West Midlands.

Khan has now admitted to failing to appear at court and at Stafford Court on Monday, was jailed for four weeks.

He will serve the four week sentence consecutively with his 10-year sentence, which he began serving the day after his return to the UK.

West Midlands Police Det Sgt Rob Piper, who investigated the original fraud, said: "Khan portrayed the image of a legitimate businessman and a multi-millionaire, but in reality he is a career criminal and a con artist.

“While a fugitive, he would regularly use social media to taunt police and protest his innocence, but we worked tirelessly to ensure he was brought back to the UK to face the consequences of his crimes.

“We are relentless in our work to bring serious and organised criminals to justice, and this shows that we can reach beyond the UK where necessary and will work with partners around the world to bring offenders to justice.”