A Huddersfield businessman has stressed that he was a fraud victim after a thief sold him a stolen luxury car worth £97,000.

Shak Shah, who owns Shaks Specialist Cars on Northgate, bought a Rolls-Royce from Mohammed Humza for £27,500 and a part exchange for a BMW 5 Series and a White Mercedes-Benz A Class.

The 36-year-old claims that he was not aware that the car had been stolen and carried out all the necessary checks prior to the purchase.

“I’ve been in this business for 15-20 years and it’s disturbing and embarrassing to have been involved with this case,” said Mr Shah.

“We did all the relevant checks and could not have been more thorough. Everything was in his name.

“We even transferred the money to his own bank account, which a fraudster would never have asked us to do.

“I am the person who brought charges against Humza, not the Saudi prince. I helped the police and I got nothing whatsoever in return, apart from bad publicity and damage to my reputation.”

Shak Shah
Shak Shah

As reported on our website yesterday, Humza was jailed for four years and two months after stealing the luxury car from Sheikh Mohammed Alibrahim in Mayfair, London.

The 25-year-old, from Hertfordshire, had filled out a DVLA V62 form claiming he was the new owner before selling it to Shaks Specialist Cars in April 2015.

But after Mr Shah received backlash online despite being a victim of Humza’s crimes, he contacted the Examiner to have his say.

“I’ve put Huddersfield on the map with the most prestigious car showroom you could ask for and it’s hurtful to have the backlash,” said Mr Shah, who is married with five children.

“Don’t forget, I’m the same brave man who was robbed at gunpoint in 2011 and still kept his business in Huddersfield.”

Despite Humza being sentenced, Mr Shah said he never got the £27,500 back in compensation.

Mr Shah, who is from Bradford, also said that he traced the BMW and the Mercedes-Benz to Humza’s partner’s address in Birmingham, where one of his employees later retrieved the two cars from.

But he said that due to having to make new V62 applications to the DVLA, he was unable to sell the two vehicles for over six months afterwards - leaving him at a further loss of around £13,000.

Humza, who had also stolen other expensive cars, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and five counts of fraud by false representation.