A Northwick Park and Central Middlesex hospital consultant has been spared jail after admitting he ran a huge loan shark business targeting poorer staff members so he could make thousands.
Consultant Arjan Damjibhai Savani ran a "well-organised and profitable business" from two hospitals in Harrow and was ordered to pay back thousands of pounds in proceeds of crime on March 17.
Following a hearing at Harrow Crown Court, Dr Savani, 49, of St Paul’s Avenue in Kenton , was told to pay back £525,000 in proceeds of crime after it totalled lending of over a million pounds.
Dr Savani was also given a 10 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in October 2016 for running the illegal money lending business.
He must pay the money within three months or face a default sentence of five years in prison.
He knew he was acting illegally issuing loans up to £50,000
Dr Savani was investigated by the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) who work in partnership with Brent Council’s Trading Standards Department and the Metropolitan Police .
In December 2015 when a warrant was executed, IMLT officers seized loan records which showed the loan shark had received payments totalling £525,000.
When interviewed under caution by IMLT officers, Dr Savani admitted to issuing loans ranging from £500 to £50,000 to his customers since 2011.
He said he knew he was acting illegally but thought it would take too long to get a license, which would have cut down his money making.
An examination of records held by Dr Savani revealed that victims had often had loans totalling thousands of pounds.
'Deliberately preyed on members of the Filipino community'
Between January 2011 and his arrest date in December 2015, Dr Savani ran the lucrative money lending business "from his places of employment", courts heard.
During an earlier hearing, prosecutor Simon Mortimer explained how Dr Savani deliberately preyed on members of the Filipino community who also worked at the hospital over a prolonged period of time.
Dr Savani knew his victims could ill afford the payments and was aware that the Filipino community places a great deal of importance on honour and the non-repayment of a debt would be shameful to the victim.
Tony Quigley, Head of Service for the National Illegal Money Lending Team said: "Another loan shark has been ordered to pay back for the crime that they once committed.
"We are continuing to crack down on illegal money lending and bringing those who break the law to justice. It’s important to remember that loan sharks are only motivated by greed and should never been used."
Cllr Tom Miller, Brent Council Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, commented:"Loan sharks prey on the most vulnerable members of our community and in these hard financial times a lot of people feel they have no option except to fall into their grasp.
"But the days when these criminals could expect to get away with causing misery are over and Dr Savani is just the latest loan shark who has found that illegal money lending will be tackled head on in our area."
He added: "We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, and will continue to work with the National Illegal Money Lending Team and other agencies to crack down on this crime, making it impossible for loan sharks to prosper."
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
