A prolific thief who made more than half a million pounds after tricking shops into refunding her items she never bought has been convicted.
Narinder Kaur, aka Nina Tiara, ‘shoplifted on an industrial scale’ across the country.
The 53-year-old Wiltshire woman ‘made her full-time career’ stealing items from high street shops before fraudulently claiming refunds she was not entitled to.
She defrauded a string of shops more than 1,000 times during her four-year scheme, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Kaur was seen on CCTV walking into stores, pulling items off the shelves and taking them to the checkout counter and pretending she had previously bought them. Examination of her accounts showed that she was doing this hundreds of times, the CPS added.
Narinder Kaur, aka Nina Tiara, ‘stolen on an industrial scale’ across the country
The 53-year-old woman ‘made her full-time career’ stealing items from high street shops.
Prosecutors were able to prove that Kaur was behind the scheme after collecting financial data, retail records, witness evidence and CCTV footage.
Kaur, from Cleverton, Wiltshire, was convicted by juries on a total of 26 counts including fraud, criminal possession and transfer of property and perversion of the course of justice.
She was sentenced on March 10 after a four-month trial at Gloucester Crown Court.
The crimes occurred between July 2015 and February 2019. Prosecutors said Kaur had multiple bank and credit card accounts.
Now the con man is facing jail time for his scheme.
Giovanni D’Alessandro, Senior Crown Prosecutor at CPS West Midlands, said: ‘Kaur committed fraud in a long-standing and extensive manner.
“It was a very lucrative full-time job that demonstrably earned him over half a million pounds during this delinquency period.
“He went to great lengths to carry out his deceptions, finding a way to defraud a retailer and then traveling across the country to replicate the fraud.
She also legally changed her name and opened new bank accounts and credit cards under a second identity to avoid detection.
“He now rightfully faces a significant sentence for his crimes and the prosecution will seek to recover as much of his ill-gotten gains as the law allows.”
TK Maxx was defrauded of £14,563.53 in the scheme (Pictured: Kaur in one of his stores)
Kaur, from Cleverton, Wiltshire, was convicted by juries on a total of 26 counts, including fraud, criminal possession and transfer of property and perversion of the course of justice.
An investigation found that he visited Boots stores across the UK, including in Dudley, Smethwick, Droitwich and Kidderminster. He received £60,787.09 in refunds from Boots even though he only spent £5,172.73 in his stores.
The convict received £42,853.65 in refunds from Debenhams despite spending just £3,681.33.
He also conned John Lewis, visiting stores, including those in Birmingham and Tamworth. The defendant received £33,131.61 in refunds, but only spent £5,290.36.
The court heard how Kaur visited Monsoon stores, including in Telford and Shrewsbury, and claimed £23,000 more in refunds than payments made for purchases.
He then targeted House of Fraser stores, spent £2,853.55 but claimed £23,147.75 in refunds. The Birmingham store was one of many she visited.
The Kaur scammer defrauded Homesense stores in Stafford, Shrewsbury, Cannock, Solihull and Worcester, among others. There he spent just £1,181.45 but claimed £19,540.17 in refunds.
TK Maxx was defrauded of £14,563.53, while it defrauded Homebase of £3,238.47, the CPS said.
Kaur’s offense also saw her defraud Wiltshire Council of £7,400.
He used stolen credit cards to pay for the services before asking the council for refunds. She would say that she had accidentally made a payment ‘with too many zeros’.
Her scam even included a male accomplice who helped her use stolen bank card details to make payments to her own heating oil supplier. The court was told that Kaur lied to the court and produced a false document to avoid conviction for speeding offenses and to relax bail conditions.
Around £150,000 in cash was found hidden in his home, along with stolen goods, when police searched for evidence.
