Leeds businessman jailed for environmental fraud

A Leeds waste operator has been jailed for seven years and six months for defrauding the electrical waste recycling industry out of £2.2million.

The defendant falsified paperwork to claim that his firm had collected and recycled more than 19,500 tonnes of household electrical waste during 2011. The company never handled the amounts of waste described and was not entitled to the substantial recycling fees paid.  Seized documents showed that the company was claiming money for waste collections from streets and properties that did not exist. Vehicles used to transfer waste were recorded as being in Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland on the same day and some vehicles did not exist at all. Documents also showed weights of waste being collected by vehicles which could never have carried such loads.

The defendant has previous convictions for fraud and illegally exporting hazardous waste to Nigeria.