Serial shoplifter pocketed £500k returning stolen goods to stores and even duped council during 'full-time fraud career'

15 March 2023, 15:57

A prolific shoplifter who stole £500k worth of goods from high street stores, as well as defrauding her local council, committed her crimes "on an industrial scale", a court has heard.

Narinder Kaur, 53, made it her "full-time career" to fraudulently claim money from high street stores including John Lewis, TKMaxx, Boots and Monsoon using a plot to claim refunds.

Kaur was captured on CCTV browsing the stores' aisles and picking up goods before taking them to the till under the pretence she was returning them.

Kaur, also known as Nina Tiara, is believed to have repeated the scam more than 1,000 times over a four-year period, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

In addition to her high street frauds, the court also heard how the accused's refund plot extended to defrauded Wiltshire council of £7,400 using stolen credit cards.

Assisted by a male accomplice, Kaur would phone the council requesting a refund, claiming she added 'too many zeros' on the end of the payment.

Appearing in Gloucester Crown Court as part of the four-month trial, jurors heard how Kaur's fraud spree spanned a four year period from July 2015 and February 2019.

Read more: Terrifying moment smiling murderer tells police 'I know what happened' as he returns to crime scene

Read more: Three arrests and one charge after drive-by shooting near church in Euston

A theory solidified using bank account statements, money could repeatedly be seen entering the defendant's account without any corresponding outgoings matching her claims.

The court was shown evidence including CCTV footage, witness accounts and an extensive financial breakdown of statements as part of the trial.

Upon raiding her property, police found around £150,000 in cash hidden at the address.

Kaur, of Cleverton, Wiltshire, was convicted on March 10 of 26 counts, including fraud, possessing and transferring criminal property, and perverting the course of justice.

The police investigation showed visits to Boots stores across the UK, receiving £60,787.09 in refunds despite only spending £5,172.73.

Claiming £42,853.65 in refunds from Debenhams despite spending £3,681.33, it was a similar story elsewhere in the country, where she managed to claim £33,131.61 from John Lewis in Birmingham and Tamworth, as well as £23,000 from Monsoon stores

Other stores targeted as part of her scheme included House of Fraser, Homesense stores in Stafford, Shrewsbury, Cannock, Solihull and Worcester, TK Maxx and Homebase stores the CPS said.

Giovanni D'Alessandro, Senior Crown Prosecutor at CPS West Midlands, said: "Kaur undertook fraud on a long-standing and wide-ranging manner.

"It was a very lucrative full-time job which demonstrably made her over half a million pounds over this period of offending. 

"She went to extraordinary lengths to carry out her deceptions, seeking to find a way of defrauding a retailer and then travelling all over the country to replicate the fraud.

"She also changed her name legally and opened new bank accounts and credit cards in a second identity to avoid detection. 

"She now rightly faces a significant sentence for her crimes and the prosecution will look to recoup as many of her ill-gotten gains as the law allows."