Two men from Cardiff have been sentenced after running a fraudulent meat supply operation that misled restaurants and takeaways into believing they were being sold halal chicken.
Hamil Miah, 46, who ran Universal Food Wholesale Limited , was jailed for four years and eight months after being found guilty of fraud and trading while bankrupt. Noaf Rahman, also 46 and from Cardiff, pleaded guilty before the trial and was given a two-year suspended sentence for his role in the offences.
The fraud was uncovered after a 2019 investigation led authorities to a warehouse in Cardiff, where 2,840 kg of frozen meat was seized. Officials from Cardiff and Vale Shared Regulatory Services discovered serious breaches of food hygiene, with meat transported in filthy vans, expiry dates tampered with, and no clear traceability of products.
The court heard that, over five years, the pair supplied chicken to eateries across south and west Wales under the pretence that it was halal. In reality, much of it was not, and even where halal meat was purchased, it became contaminated in the warehouse, which was also used to process non-halal meat.
Prosecutor Alex Greenwood told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court that customers “were in fact consuming non-halal products as a result of the criminality of these two defendants.”
The businesses buying the meat were unaware of the fraud, believing they were dealing with legitimate suppliers behind the “corporate veil,” BBC reported.
Judge Vanessa Francis condemned the operation saying Miah and Rahman had a "cavalier attitude" and were equally responsible.
She described the misconduct as a “disaster waiting to happen” and highlighted the widespread impact of their actions, noting, that the “harm in my view is extensive” and there were "flagrant breaches over a significant period of time".
"This was a disaster waiting to happen and it is a matter of relief that it never did with the unsafe meat sent out of your premises," BBC cited the judge.
The names of affected restaurants were not disclosed in court due to the sensitive nature of the case.
Hamil Miah, 46, who ran Universal Food Wholesale Limited , was jailed for four years and eight months after being found guilty of fraud and trading while bankrupt. Noaf Rahman, also 46 and from Cardiff, pleaded guilty before the trial and was given a two-year suspended sentence for his role in the offences.
The fraud was uncovered after a 2019 investigation led authorities to a warehouse in Cardiff, where 2,840 kg of frozen meat was seized. Officials from Cardiff and Vale Shared Regulatory Services discovered serious breaches of food hygiene, with meat transported in filthy vans, expiry dates tampered with, and no clear traceability of products.
The court heard that, over five years, the pair supplied chicken to eateries across south and west Wales under the pretence that it was halal. In reality, much of it was not, and even where halal meat was purchased, it became contaminated in the warehouse, which was also used to process non-halal meat.
Prosecutor Alex Greenwood told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court that customers “were in fact consuming non-halal products as a result of the criminality of these two defendants.”
The businesses buying the meat were unaware of the fraud, believing they were dealing with legitimate suppliers behind the “corporate veil,” BBC reported.
Judge Vanessa Francis condemned the operation saying Miah and Rahman had a "cavalier attitude" and were equally responsible.
She described the misconduct as a “disaster waiting to happen” and highlighted the widespread impact of their actions, noting, that the “harm in my view is extensive” and there were "flagrant breaches over a significant period of time".
"This was a disaster waiting to happen and it is a matter of relief that it never did with the unsafe meat sent out of your premises," BBC cited the judge.
The names of affected restaurants were not disclosed in court due to the sensitive nature of the case.
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