A FRAUDSTER who is thought to have amassed in excess of £200,000 has been told he faces a long prison sentence.

At the end of a complex three-week trial, Shazad Hussain’s wife broke down in tears as a jury at Bradford Crown Court returned a series of guilty verdicts against him.

The 34-year-old, of Taylor Hill Road, Taylor Hill, claimed on mortgage applications to be a “project manager” earning about £50,000 a year, but his criminal activities unravelled after police carried out a drugs search at his family home in August 2009.

The court heard at the start of the couple’s trial that during the search police seized various items, including £1,264 worth of cocaine, a large quantity of self-sealing bags in a holdall, a hydraulic press in the cellar and just over £24,000 in cash.

But when police investigated their financial affairs it emerged that Hussain had given false details on mortgage applications and had even “manufactured” a letter from a supposed employer.

Yesterday the jury found Hussain guilty on a total of 20 charges involving possession of cocaine with intent to supply, obtaining money transfers by deception, using a false instrument, fraud and acquiring criminal property.

His wife Vicki Chaukria, 27, was cleared on all the charges she faced except for one allegation of fraud relating to the re-mortgage of their home in October 2008.

Hussain was remanded in custody by Judge Jonathan Rose and told to expect a significant prison sentence when the case is back before him in three or four weeks time.

The judge granted tearful mum Chaukria bail for the preparation of a report by the Probation Service, but said he was still considering a custodial sentence in her case and she had to make arrangements for her children.

The judge told Hussain that he had been convicted on overwhelming evidence of significant criminality.

Judge Rose said Hussain would receive a separate prison term for the drugs offence in addition to the sentence for his professional frauds.

“I, like the jury, am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you manufactured documents to support the frauds that you perpetrated to acquire a vast sum of money,” said Judge Rose.

“It has been a fraud perpetrated over years.”

The judge said Hussain had drawn his wife into the fraud and that meant she now faced a potential prison sentence and their children could be left without parents.

“That to my mind is a serious aggravating feature,” the judge told Hussain.

Hussain also faces sentence for Contempt of Court in relation to breaches of restraint orders put on various bank accounts and the couple will also be subject to proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act at a later date.

At the start of the trial prosecutor Simon Whaley alleged that there was no legitimate explanation for the large amounts paid into the couple’s bank accounts and that the money came wholly or in part from the proceeds of criminal activity such as drug dealing, mortgage fraud or income, which had not been declared for tax purposes.

Chaukria, who had previously worked as a financial administrator, said she didn’t discuss her husband's financial affairs with him and didn’t know how much money he earned.