Abu Hamza’s Sons Jailed for £1m Car Scam

Like father, like sons. Three sons of the radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza followed their father to prison last Thursday as they were found guilty of involvement in a luxury car scam in London. Abu Hamza is currently in jail for inciting to murder and racial hatred.

Hamza’s sons Hamza Kamel (22) and Mohammed Mostafa (27) ran a two-year scam with his stepson Mohssin Ghailam (28) and four other men targeting a total of 32 cars valued at more than £1 million. The seven men used a legal loophole to steal mostly Mercedes, BMWs and Range Rovers left in long-stay car parks.

After the three admitted the charges brought to them, Kamel was sentenced to two and a half years, Mostafa was jailed for two years, while Ghailam (qualified as the key player in the scam) was sentenced to four years in prison.

“You were all involved to a greater or lesser degree in this criminal enterprise, involving the theft and resale of high-value motorcars in London. The prosecution describes this criminality as a sophisticated, well-planned and professionally executed operation and I agree with that description. This was serious criminality and I have no alternative but to send each of you to prison," Judge Gregory Stone was quoted by TimesOnline as saying.

The scam followed the same pattern every time. After the gang identified the luxury car, they applied to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to change the address. If the DVLA did not receive a reply from the original address within 14 days a new log book would be sent out to an address supplied by the gang. They would then inform about the change of the registered keeper, which enabled them to obtain keys for the vehicle. They would then steal and sell the vehicle.

Fraud seems to be Hamza’s middle name, as last year another of his seven sons, Yasser Mostafa Kamel, 18, barely escaped jail after admitting burglary.