Gatwick airport ‘meet and greet’ boss who tricked holidaymakers into thinking their cars were safe before dumping them in muddy fields is jailed for 14 months over £1.4million scam
- Asad Bashir Malik held the position of director at London Parking Gatwick Ltd
- The company posted fake reviews to its website to dupe holidaymakers
- Customers were promised that cars would be parked in ‘a secure compound’
- In reality they were being parked in nearby muddy fields in West Sussex
Asad Malik made more than £1 million over a two year period, after he used fake photos on the company’s website to lure in holidaymakers
A ‘meet and great’ director of a company which served customers looking to park close to Gatwick Airport has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after duping holiday makers into thinking their cars were safe before dumping them in muddy fields.
Asad Bashir Malik has now been disqualified from being a director after the £1.4million scam was investigated by West Sussex Trading Standards.
Malik and his company London Parking Gatwick Ltd were found guilty of misleading customers at Brighton Crown Court.
The company promised that all cars left with them would be parked in a ‘secure compound’. However it was revealed that vehicles were being parked in a nearby field.
The 37-year-old convinced customers their cars would be safe by showing them a picture of Borders General Hospital car park in Melrose, Scotland 400 miles away.
They thought their vehicles were being kept safe with valet cleaning facilities and 24-hour CCTV supervision.
Reports in 2016 to West Sussex Trading Standards suggested that over 1,000 cars were being parked in Bonnetts Lane.
Pictured above are some of the cars that had been left in one of the muddy fields by the company
Some of the cars parked in West Sussex (above) were driven around and sometimes returned to owners damaged
Officers with Trading Standards visited both Bonnetts Lane and Keepers Knight in July 2016 and confirmed that the company had been using these areas to park the cars.
Some vehicles left in the fields had been left unlocked with their windows open and keys places on the windscreen.
This is while others were damaged and had been issued with parking tickets.
Last year Lewes Crown Court heard that cars were used for joyrides and to tow other vehicles before being parked in muddy fields unlocked or with the keys stuck to the windscreen in a clear plastic bag.
One of the cars had been left in this woodland area (pictured above) a far cry from what the customers were promised
Malik had previously told customers that they had no right to complain after leaving their car with the company
The jury were told cars were driven extra miles, returned dirty and damaged to their owners or not returned at all.
The investigation also revealed fake reviews had been left on the company’s website.
Officers contacted customers who has been affected and established that they had been misled by claims which were up on the company’s website.
Richard Sargeant, Trading Standards Team Manager, said: ‘Malik and his company deceived thousands of customers between 2014 and 2016, causing damage to their cars and making false claims on its website.
‘This was a complex investigation for our team and I am very pleased with the outcome.
‘I would urge anyone using a Gatwick meet and greet business to only use a Trading Standards-approved company.’
Hundreds of holidaymakers and business travellers were conned into believing their cars were safe and secure when they were being taken on joyrides before being dumped in muddy fields