London: An arrest warrant for a fugitive tycoon, Shaid Luqman, 51, suspected of being the mastermind in one of Britain’s biggest banking frauds has been dropped because it is too much of a burden on the justice system, a court has heard. Luqman, who once headed a £300 million property empire in the UK before its collapse, is believed to have flown from Manchester to Pakistan without a passport and with millions of pounds in cash in June 2011 – just weeks after he was given an electronic tag by the courts for passport fraud.
He was awaiting sentencing for possession of cannabis resin at the time and would also have faced a charge of breaching his electronically monitored curfew by fleeing the country. But last week a judge at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, agreed to drop the arrest warrant for Luqman after accepting there was no realistic prospect of him returning to the UK.
Although his British and Pakistani passports were confiscated and he was electronically tagged for fraudulently attempting to get a third travel document, Luqman – known as ‘Lucky Luqman’ – sneaked past airport security officials just two weeks after he was given a suspended prison sentence and fled the UK.
Luqman still remains at large almost 10 years on and is apparently living the high life – having brazenly opened a shopping mall in Lahore, started his own fashion boutique and appeared in series of glossy magazine photo shoots. He even has a Facebook page set up showing a picture of him posing behind a desk with a model of a jet aircraft. A number of reviews have been held into establishing whether the authorities had made any progress in getting Luqman back to the UK with questions raised as to how he was able to escape.
But last week at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester a judge agreed to withdraw the arrest warrant for Luqman after accepting there was no realistic prospect of him returning to the UK.
He will now face no further action over his escape – even if he comes back to Britain – while Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan, where he is believed to have fled. Withdrawing the warrant Judge Tina Landale said: “As long ago as in May 2018 this case came before me and it was thought he had returned to Pakistan and that was the position in 2014 too. It does seem that he is unlikely to return. The offence for which he was convicted is a relatively minor offence of possessing cannabis resin so this is not a high risk offender and a danger to the public. He failed to comply with a court order. It is not a question of danger so I will withdraw that warrant and bring these matters to a close.”
