TELFORD

A private hire driver has been found guilty of illegally plying for hire.

Mihai-Ionut Borodea, of Wrockwardine Wood in Telford, was licensed by City of Wolverhampton Council.

He was sentenced at Telford Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to illegally collecting members of the public at Shrewsbury railway station in the early hours of December 17 last year.

The passengers had not booked through a licensed operator but instead approached the driver who had pulled up at the station and then agreed to undertake the requested journey from Shrewsbury to Broseley – an activity known as plying for hire.

As a result it was also held that Borodea’s motor insurance was invalid for the journey.

He was ordered by the court, to pay a fine and costs totalling £320 and received six penalty points on his driving licence.

Frances Darling, Shropshire Council’s trading standards and licensing operations manager said: “Shropshire Council takes illegal private hire activities extremely seriously.

"Our advice to the trade is clear – private hire vehicles are not permitted to ply for hire and where we identify such cases we will investigate them fully, including cases where the driver is licensed by another local authority.

"Not only is this activity illegal it will invalidate a drivers insurance putting customers at risk.”

Joyce Barrow, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for communities, waste and regulatory services, said: “We will continue to crack down on unsafe private hire vehicles and taxis and we encourage members of the public to report illegal activity to us.

"We can use this information to help determine the council’s enforcement priorities and activities.

"Our officers carry out vehicle and driver licensing checks across Shropshire to stamp out illegal activity and ensure the safety of the public.

"Officers work closely with the police to carry out evening patrols and undertake plying for hire operations using plain clothed officers.

“This case has seen effective partnership working between officers from both Shropshire Council and the City of Wolverhampton Council to ensure public safety and I am confident that this will continue.”

Councillor Alan Bolshaw, chair of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee said: “Plying for hire is a serious offence that places members of the public in danger.

"Private hire journeys must be pre-booked otherwise they may not be insured.

"City of Wolverhampton Council officers assisted Shropshire Council with their enquiries to bring about the successful prosecution.

"The driver’s private hire licence will now be reviewed by officers.”

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/crime/2018/08/11/private-hire-driver-prosecuted/
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RUGBY

A TAXI driver who overcharged passengers after failing to switch on his cab’s meter has been hit with fines and costs totalling nearly £900.

Junedhai Motorwala was working in Rugby town centre on New Year’s Day when he picked up a couple near The Squirrel pub in Church Street.

The couple wanted to be be taken to The Crown pub in Newbold, but a dispute over the fare started.

The passengers’ account of the dispute differed to Mr Motorwala’s, but both parties accepted the cab’s meter was switched off for the duration of the journey and Motorwala took a fare of £10.

On making a complaint to the council about the incident, one of the passengers said Motorwala had insisted the fare was a fixed rate of £15 before starting the journey and refused to switch on the meter.

The passenger said Motorwala then took the cab’s tariff card – which should have been on display – from behind the sun visor, waved it at the couple and said: “I don’t need the meter on. It’s a fixed price all night.”

On arriving in Newbold, the passenger said Motorwala again asked for £15 but, after being challenged over the meter being switched off, said: “Give me a tenner.”

When interviewed by a licensing officer, Motorwala said when he was first asked about the cost of the journey, he had told the passengers the fare was approximately £11, to which one of the passengers offered to pay £10.

During the journey, Motorwala said one of the passengers started arguing about the fare but, on arrival in Newbold, reluctantly paid the £10.

However, Motorwala accepted he had failed to switch the meter on and had overcharged the passengers – an offence under the terms of his taxi licence.

He insisted he had never switched off the meter while carrying passengers before, but also accepted the cab’s tariff card should have been on display for passengers – another condition of the licence.

Motorwala, of Lowther Street, Coventry, pleaded guilty at Nuneaton’s Warwickshire Justice Centre on Tuesday July 31 to breaching the conditions of his taxi licence, an offence under section 58 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.

Magistrates fined the 31-year-old £100 and ordered him to pay the council’s costs, £758, and a £30 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the hearing, Rugby Borough Council’s environment and public realm spokeswoman Coun Lisa Parker said she hoped the prosecution of Mr Motorwala served as a warning to the town’s taxi drivers to abide by the licence conditions.

She said: “The majority of our taxi drivers deliver a high quality service, but we need the public’s help to stop the minority who breach the taxi licence conditions.

“The conditions protect both drivers and passengers, ensuring fair competition between drivers and offering passengers set standards of service.

“We often receive reports of taxi drivers breaching conditions, but rarely with sufficient information to compile satisfactory evidence for prosecution.

“In this case, the passengers made a note of the driver’s taxi plate number, which allowed us to identify and, ultimately, prosecute him.

“I’d encourage any passengers who feel a taxi driver has breached the conditions of the taxi licence to make a note of the plate number, vehicle registration or details of the make and model of the vehicle so we can take appropriate action.”

https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/overcharging-taxi-driver-pays-900-penalty/
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LEICESTER BOGUS PH INSURER

  University friends from Newham were given almost 57 months of suspended sentences for an insurance scam against minicab drivers.

Ajay Haque, 35, from Salisbury Road in Forest Gate, Anik Dixit, 34, from Browning Road in East Ham, and Mohammed Nur Ahmed, 33, from Walton Road in Manor Park, met while studying at Westminster University.

After they’d left, they created a ghost-broking scheme where they made money by selling fake insurance policies, mainly targeted at minicab drivers.

They were sentenced on August 7 for conspiracy to commit fraud. Ahmed pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing, while Dixit and Haque pleaded not guilty.

Between June 2012 and August 2013, the men ran AHD Solutions, a scam company which offered hire and reward insurance policies (a policy which allows you to carry goods or passengers for money), and added drivers onto trade policies. This meant the drivers wouldn’t flag up as uninsured to the police, even though they were.

To make the company seem legitimate, they issued fake policy documents, set up a website, and employed a work experience intern with no knowledge of the scam.

They used insurer Esure’s name on their website to try and appear authentic, but when Esure found out, they took legal action. They set up Kab Insure instead, continuing the scam based out of a new address in Leicester.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) found 65 vehicles with invalid policies linked to the scam.

Haque was given a two year custodial sentence, suspended for 21 months and a nine hour curfew lasting for six months.

Dixit received a 20 month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, and 260 hours unpaid work.

Ahmed received a 17 month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, and 220 hours unpaid work.

Jason Potter, head of investigations at the IFB, said: “This is a complex case that demonstrates just how far ghost brokers will go to in order to manipulate the system and make money through deception. The victims of this case were trying to make an honest, law-abiding living and these criminals did not hesitate to take advantage of that.

“This sentencing should serve as a stark warning to anyone that may consider orchestrating an insurance fraud scam. Ghost broking is an issue that we take extremely seriously.”

http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/crime-court/newham-men-sentenced-for-insurance-policy-scam-1-5646242