In one of the most audacious fraud cases to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic era, a 47-year-old man from Glasgow has been sentenced to four years in prison after posing as a property manager for Greggs and swindling Leeds City Council out of more than £710,000 in government relief grants. The man, Aftab Baig, exploited emergency financial aid designed to help struggling small businesses survive lockdowns, committing what the sentencing judge described as a “disgraceful” act at a time of national crisis.
Using a fabricated email and a false identity, Baig deceived council officials into releasing hundreds of thousands of pounds intended for real business owners. The case underscores the vulnerabilities in emergency funding schemes and serves as a cautionary tale for both government bodies and the public about the lengths fraudsters will go to manipulate systems for personal gain.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of how Baig pulled off this elaborate scheme, how he was caught, and what the consequences of his actions reveal about fraud prevention in times of crisis.
Who Is Aftab Baig?
Aftab Baig, a resident of Glasgow and the operator of a local catering business, had no formal connection to Greggs, the UK’s largest bakery chain. Yet in 2020, as the UK was plunged into economic uncertainty amid strict COVID-19 lockdowns, Baig saw an opportunity to exploit the system.
According to court records, Baig was well-versed in business administration and technology, enough to craft convincing emails, forge documentation, and construct an elaborate persona that passed initial scrutiny. While he ran a small catering business, his ambitions and criminal ingenuity extended far beyond his actual enterprise.
Authorities later discovered Baig had created a fake Greggs corporate email account, complete with company branding, and used it to pose as a group property manager overseeing multiple store locations. This false identity was central to his scam and ultimately allowed him to dupe Leeds City Council into approving fraudulent grant applications.
How He Posed as a Greggs Manager
Baig’s scheme began in May 2020, when he contacted Leeds City Council during a peak period of business disruption caused by the pandemic. Claiming to represent Greggs’ property management division, Baig requested access to business rates account numbers for 32 Greggs branches in Leeds. His cover story? That due to lockdown restrictions, he couldn’t physically access the necessary paperwork and urgently needed the information to secure COVID relief grants for the company.
The council, overwhelmed with genuine applications and operating under immense pressure to disburse funds quickly, complied with the request. Baig received the business rates numbers, which he used to apply for £710,000 in small business support grants intended to help companies with rent, wages, and operational costs.
Each application listed real Greggs locations but directed payments to a bank account linked to Baig’s own catering firm. The audacity and speed of the operation allowed Baig to temporarily escape detection, though not for long.
How the £710,000 Fraud Was Executed
COVID-19 relief grants were a lifeline for many UK businesses during the pandemic. Administered through local councils, the scheme allowed qualifying businesses to receive up to £25,000 per property, depending on the type of operation and its eligibility. The aim was to keep small and medium-sized enterprises afloat as the country faced months of economic uncertainty.
By obtaining the business rate numbers from Leeds City Council, Baig submitted applications that appeared, on the surface, to come from a legitimate source: Greggs. He listed 32 separate store locations and claimed the maximum eligible amounts. In total, he secured £710,000.
The money was transferred into an account under the name of his own catering business—a fact that, shockingly, did not initially trigger red flags. Baig then attempted to move £95,000 to other accounts before the scheme unraveled. Authorities later found £16,000 in cash and forged documents, suggesting he was preparing to fabricate remittance slips to convince the bank to unfreeze the remaining funds.
This level of sophistication made Baig’s fraud more than just opportunistic—it was methodical, deliberate, and, as the judge later noted, a serious abuse of a system built on trust and urgency.
Where the Money Went
While a portion of the £710,000 was swiftly frozen by Leeds City Council once the fraud was discovered—thanks to their quick internal review—Baig had already managed to redirect £95,000 into other accounts. Whether those funds have been fully recovered is still under investigation, but the Proceeds of Crime Act is now being used to track and potentially seize assets.
During a raid on his Glasgow home, police discovered evidence of Baig’s broader intentions, including false documents and large sums of cash. The court heard how Baig intended to deceive the bank into believing that the transfers were legitimate business remittances, further compounding his fraudulent actions.
Investigators suspect the money was earmarked for personal use and possibly reinvestment into his catering business, which appeared to serve as a front for laundering the stolen funds. Whether he acted alone or had accomplices remains unclear, but the scale of the fraud has drawn comparisons to other high-profile pandemic-era scams.
