Serial fraudster unmasked after posing as a barrister and WINNING £8,000 legal wrangle in court... against another conman (whose legal team then reported him)
By TED THORNHILL
PUBLISHED: 10:04 GMT, 1 April 2014 | UPDATED: 14:46 GMT, 1 April 2014
A serial conman who made false claims of being a brain surgeon and a barrister for nearly 20 years has finally been jailed.
He was exposed, ironically, after posing as a barrister and winning a court case against another fraudster.
Amir Saleem, 42, won almost £8,000 for his client at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre in a lawsuit against known conman Selva Carmichael.
But Saleem’s conduct in court was his downfall.
Despite losing, the opposing legal team became suspicious that Saleem wasn’t a real barrister when he used ‘nonsensical legal propositions’ and made the bizarre boast that he was actually a brain surgeon who merely ‘dabbled in law’.
The police were called and an 11-month investigation revealed that he’d been spinning an astonishing web of lies over a number of years – and had conned his first victim, an ex-girlfriend, out of tens of thousands of pounds.
They also found he’d used false legal qualifications to study law and set up a solicitor’s firm and made claims to his ex that he was a multimillionaire brain surgeon ‘who lived near the Beckhams’.
Saleem was actually penniless and a stay-at-home son who slept in the spare room of his parents’ house.
He met his first victim, a 45-year-old divorcee, in 2004, through a dating website.
He convinced her to look at prestige homes for sale in the Mere area of Cheshire as well as two Mercedes cars - and she loaned him £40,000 from her £66,000 divorce settlement.
During their four-year relationship the woman, a nurse, had a child before splitting up with him in 2009 after she became increasingly wary of his tall tales.
Saleem later tried to sue her for custody of their child, and her parents had to remortgage their home to pay the £25,000 legal costs.
In a statement she said: ‘Amir has totally destroyed my life, both financially and psychologically. I ended up off work sick with depression for 12 months. He has made a total fool out of me.
In July 2012 he met his next victim, Lisa Walmsley
.
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Boast: Saleem said that he was a millionaire brain surgeon with celebrity neighbours, but in fact lived in this semi-detached house with his parents
He told her he was a barrister and said he would be able to help her over her legal battle with conman Carmichael, 53, who she claimed took a £42,000 investment from her for a TV production venture and breached terms of a contract.
Little did Ms Walmsley know that Saleem had made up his credentials.
Police said Saleem had used entirely false qualifications and fraudulent degree certificates to win places on a number of University Degree courses between 1997 and 2012.
They included Kings College, Huddersfield University, College of Law in Birmingham, College of Law in Bloomsbury and BPP Law School.
He eventually created a bogus law firm, Century Law, using forged degree certificates.
But that didn’t stop him taking the case and audaciously representing her in court.
He wasn’t convincing enough for the defendant’s legal representation, though – and neither did he pull the wool over the eyes of the judge.
The judge asked him to write down some information about his legal background, but Saleem misspelt ‘Gray's Inn Square Barristers' Chambers’.
At Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, Saleem, of Ladybarn, near Stockport, was jailed for four years and four months after he pleaded guilty to seven counts of deception and one count of carrying out a reserved legal activity.
Detective Con Beth Colbourne from Greater Manchester Police said: ‘Saleem convinced both women they could trust him and rely on him.
‘He used the pretence that he was a barrister and brain surgeon to gain their trust even further, leading to him deceiving one of his victims out of thousands of pounds.
‘Even upon his arrest for the original offence, his lying continued and he tried to convince the officer that the victims and witnesses were mistaken and he was in fact a student.
‘Thankfully, we were able to see through his lies and he is now serving time behind bars.’
Passing sentence Judge David Stockdale QC said Saleem was a ‘knowing and manipulative fraudster’.
Saleem’s lawyer David Martin-Sperry said: ‘He lived in a fantasy world. The theme is very much of self-aggrandisement - and misguided optimism how things would turn out.’
- Amir Saleem, 42, brazenly posed as a barrister at a court in Manchester
- He won his case but the opposing legal team became suspicious of him
- The police were called after he used 'nonsensical legal propositions'
- A probe revealed he'd duped two women and used false qualifications
- He was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for four years and four months
By TED THORNHILL
PUBLISHED: 10:04 GMT, 1 April 2014 | UPDATED: 14:46 GMT, 1 April 2014
A serial conman who made false claims of being a brain surgeon and a barrister for nearly 20 years has finally been jailed.
He was exposed, ironically, after posing as a barrister and winning a court case against another fraudster.
Amir Saleem, 42, won almost £8,000 for his client at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre in a lawsuit against known conman Selva Carmichael.
But Saleem’s conduct in court was his downfall.
Despite losing, the opposing legal team became suspicious that Saleem wasn’t a real barrister when he used ‘nonsensical legal propositions’ and made the bizarre boast that he was actually a brain surgeon who merely ‘dabbled in law’.
The police were called and an 11-month investigation revealed that he’d been spinning an astonishing web of lies over a number of years – and had conned his first victim, an ex-girlfriend, out of tens of thousands of pounds.
They also found he’d used false legal qualifications to study law and set up a solicitor’s firm and made claims to his ex that he was a multimillionaire brain surgeon ‘who lived near the Beckhams’.
Saleem was actually penniless and a stay-at-home son who slept in the spare room of his parents’ house.
He met his first victim, a 45-year-old divorcee, in 2004, through a dating website.
He convinced her to look at prestige homes for sale in the Mere area of Cheshire as well as two Mercedes cars - and she loaned him £40,000 from her £66,000 divorce settlement.
During their four-year relationship the woman, a nurse, had a child before splitting up with him in 2009 after she became increasingly wary of his tall tales.
Saleem later tried to sue her for custody of their child, and her parents had to remortgage their home to pay the £25,000 legal costs.
In a statement she said: ‘Amir has totally destroyed my life, both financially and psychologically. I ended up off work sick with depression for 12 months. He has made a total fool out of me.
In July 2012 he met his next victim, Lisa Walmsley
.
+2
Boast: Saleem said that he was a millionaire brain surgeon with celebrity neighbours, but in fact lived in this semi-detached house with his parents
He told her he was a barrister and said he would be able to help her over her legal battle with conman Carmichael, 53, who she claimed took a £42,000 investment from her for a TV production venture and breached terms of a contract.
Little did Ms Walmsley know that Saleem had made up his credentials.
Police said Saleem had used entirely false qualifications and fraudulent degree certificates to win places on a number of University Degree courses between 1997 and 2012.
They included Kings College, Huddersfield University, College of Law in Birmingham, College of Law in Bloomsbury and BPP Law School.
He eventually created a bogus law firm, Century Law, using forged degree certificates.
But that didn’t stop him taking the case and audaciously representing her in court.
He wasn’t convincing enough for the defendant’s legal representation, though – and neither did he pull the wool over the eyes of the judge.
The judge asked him to write down some information about his legal background, but Saleem misspelt ‘Gray's Inn Square Barristers' Chambers’.
At Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, Saleem, of Ladybarn, near Stockport, was jailed for four years and four months after he pleaded guilty to seven counts of deception and one count of carrying out a reserved legal activity.
Detective Con Beth Colbourne from Greater Manchester Police said: ‘Saleem convinced both women they could trust him and rely on him.
‘He used the pretence that he was a barrister and brain surgeon to gain their trust even further, leading to him deceiving one of his victims out of thousands of pounds.
‘Even upon his arrest for the original offence, his lying continued and he tried to convince the officer that the victims and witnesses were mistaken and he was in fact a student.
‘Thankfully, we were able to see through his lies and he is now serving time behind bars.’
Passing sentence Judge David Stockdale QC said Saleem was a ‘knowing and manipulative fraudster’.
Saleem’s lawyer David Martin-Sperry said: ‘He lived in a fantasy world. The theme is very much of self-aggrandisement - and misguided optimism how things would turn out.’
