Narinder Kaur, also known as Nina Tiara, has been found guilty of shoplifting on a large scale, and tricking stores into refunding her for items she never bought, resulting in over half a million pounds in earnings.
Kaur traveled across the UK to steal from high street shops and then fraudulently claimed refunds that she was not entitled to. During her four-year plot, Kaur defrauded over 1,000 shops.
Kaur was caught on CCTV entering stores, taking items from shelves and pretending that she had previously purchased them. After gathering financial data, retail records, witness evidence, and CCTV footage, prosecutors were able to prove that Kaur was behind the scheme.
She was convicted on March 10 after a four-month trial at Gloucester Crown Court.
Kaur’s fraudulent activities took place between July 2015 and February 2019, during which she opened multiple bank and credit card accounts, changed her legal name, and traveled extensively to replicate her fraud.
The 53-year-old from Wiltshire was found guilty on 26 counts, including fraud, possessing and transferring criminal property, and perverting the course of justice.
She now faces significant jail time for her crimes, and the prosecution will look to recoup as much of her ill-gotten gains as possible.
Kaur targeted several major retailers in her scheme, including Boots, Debenhams, John Lewis, Monsoon, House of Fraser, Homesense, TK Maxx, and Homebase.
At Boots, Kaur received £60,787.09 in refunds despite only spending £5,172.73 at its stores. At Debenhams, she was handed £42,853.65 in refunds despite spending only £3,681.33.
She also defrauded John Lewis, receiving £33,131.61 in refunds but only spending £5,290.36. Kaur visited Monsoon stores and claimed £23,000 more in refunds than in payments made for purchases.
At House of Fraser, she spent £2,853.55 but claimed £23,147.75 in refunds. Kaur defrauded Homesense stores in Stafford, Shrewsbury, Cannock, Solihull, and Worcester, spending just £1,181.45 but claiming £19,540.17 in refunds. She also cheated Homebase out of £3,238.47.
In addition to defrauding retailers, Kaur also defrauded Wiltshire Council of £7,400. She used stolen credit cards to pay for services and then requested refunds from the council, claiming that she had made a mistake and paid with too many zeros.
Kaur’s scam even involved a male accomplice who helped her use stolen bank card details to make payments to her own heating oil supplier.
Kaur lied to the court and produced a fake document to dodge being convicted of speeding offences and relax bail conditions. Police found about £150,000 in cash hidden in her home, along with stolen goods, during a search for evidence.
»UK Fraudster Tricked Stores into Refunding Her for Items She Never Bought, Convicted of 26 Counts«
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