Pair duped unsuspecting customers at Streetwise Motors in Watford Road

A trained solicitor and his brother have been sentenced for selling clocked cars from a dealership they owned in Wembley.

Shariq and Tariq Ali sold the vehicles with false low mileage while trading as Streetwise Motors car dealership in Watford Road.

The pair were snared after officers from Brent and Harrow Trading Standards (BHTS) launched an investigation into their business following concerns from cheated customers.

Tariq, who trained as a lawyer, had denied any wrongdoing, while his sibling admitted conspiracy to commit fraud at Harrow Crown Court in June.

Shariq was found guilty following a trial last two-and-a-half weeks and both were sentenced today (Friday).

Shariq was jailed for 16 months and Tariq was handed a three-month jail term suspended for a year and ordered to do 100 hours community service.

The brothers have since sold the business and have no connection with the dealership which is there now.

Simon Martin, BHTS prosecutor, said: “This is a great result for Brent & Harrow Trading Standards and all of the many customers who were duped by these two unscrupulous traders into buying cars which they believed had low mileage when in fact the opposite was true.

“This was a complicated investigation that took more than two years to come to court and it was due to the determination of the investigating officer that the case was successfully prosecuted.”

The brothers could be ordered to pay back thousands of pounds in a confiscation hearing scheduled for March 8 next year.