Is carbon credit scammer Sami Raja in prison in the UK, or still scamming in Dubai? Or both?

Two weeks ago, REDD-Monitor wrote about a con artist called Sami Raja. On 18 January 2019, Sami Raja was sentenced to eight years in prison at Southwark Crown Court.

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UPDATE – 11 February 2019: Sami Raja was not at the trial in Southwark Crown Court. He is not in prison. See the response from the City of London Police to REDD-Monitor’s question below.

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A couple of people sent me this press release and asked whether I’m sure that Sami Raja is really in prison:

To add to the confusion, four days ago, Raja’s partner posted a photograph on Instagram of the two of them at Al Marjan Desert Safari in Dubai:

So where is Sami Raja?

I don’t know where Sami Raja is. It’s possible (at least in theory) that he was sentenced to jail in the UK, but somehow tunnelled his way out and is now enjoying life in Dubai.

My source for the story about Raja being sentenced to jail was this statement on the City of London Police website:

I’ve asked the City of London Police whether Sami Raja is actually in jail and will post the reply here when the City of London Police respond.

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UPDATE – 11 February 2019: Today, I received a response from a Media and Communications Officer at the City of London Police, who told me that,

“Sami Raja was sentenced in his absence and is currently wanted. We believe he is in Dubai. Anyone with information about Raja’s whereabouts should call 101.”

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Several websites reported the story of Sami Raja’s jail sentence. Here’s a sample from Google:

I suspect that if he’d escaped, that might have been reported somewhere too. If his escape has been reported, I’m afraid I couldn’t find it.

The City of London Police statement includes a photograph of Sami Raja. On the left is a photograph of Sami Raja from the website Sami Raja Consultancy, and on the right is the City of London Police’s photograph:

It is difficult to compare the two, because the photographs are taken from different angles. But there are obvious similarities, such as the same hairline, beard shape, mouth, and eyes, and both have a birth mark next to the nose.

Rich kids of London

Sami Raja has appeared in a couple of articles about rich people flaunting their wealth on Instagram. In September 2017, he appeared in an article in Business Today:

Sami Raja, a half-Indian and half-Pakistani British citizen, has talked some more about his life. The 29-year-old tells a rags-to-riches tale and claims to have set up his first company when he was 20. Now he brokers deals for companies looking to raise money and the cut supports his lifestyle. Raja has been featured in Rich Kids of London and Rich Parents of Instagram and often poses with his kid.

Two weeks later, he was in an article in The Telegraph:

@samraja1986, who stares into the camera with Gatsby-like sad eyes, as he clutches some rosé champagne on a charter plane. The caption reads: “Money doesn’t buy class, but it does buy you business class.”
 
 
 

Sami Raja Consultancy

The Sami Raja Consultancy website was re-registered anonymously on 29 January 2019. The .net, .org, and .info domains were also registered (anonymously) on the same day.

The samiraja.com website address is the same that Raja used in the past to advertise his services. A few pages of the previous website are archived here and here.

On the new website, Sami Raja Consultancy has four testimonials:

The image of Scott Miller turns out to be someone called Rob, or a saxophone teacher called Craig, or Alfredo Hicks the CEO of a bitcoin website, or Albert Shephard who works for Px-Lab, or perhaps Martin Jørgensen, a Danish sleep expert.

Hasan Almasi’s photograph can be freely downloaded from Pixabay. Predictably enough, she appears under several different names, such as Courtney, Karl, and Karina.

Sarah Eminson might be Georgette, Elizabeth, or Laura.

And Farhad Armeen could be Daniel. Or Gilbert. Or perhaps he’s the result of a random user generator programme and his name is Rafael Jackson. Or Jamie Howell.

Sami Raja, Heron Global Partners, and Essex and London Properties

Sami Raja Consultancy’s press release states that Raja previously worked at Heron Marketing in the UK. In fact, Sami Raja worked at a company called Heron Global Partners.

Below is one of Raja’s emails from Heron Global Partners – pushing a scam investment in a company called Essex and London Properties Limited. The company was closed down in November 2018, after raising £18.9 million from retail investors and creditors.

Essex and London Properties claimed to buy properties and sell them at a profit. A company brochure stated that company buys “depressed assets which are highly competitive in their local marketplace and which can generate sustainable income streams”.

Essex and London Properties promised a “fixed return of 8% per year which will be paid on a quarterly basis”.

In fact, Essex and London Properties only bought one property. A house in Harwich for £147,000. That was less than 1% of the money the company raised from more than 800 people. Many of these people were approached by recovery room scams offering to recover their investments for an advance fee.

Thank you for your recent enquiry with Heron Global Partners.

It is my pleasure to introduce Essex and London Properties Limited.

For your perusal, please click on the link below for their up to date brochure outlining their offering and detailed company information:

Property Bond

They are a specialist property development and Regeneration Company with a prime focus on acquiring under developed property projects in London and Essex for refurbishment and value addition purposes.

Essex and London Properties Limited intend to raise capital from retail clients to fund their ongoing property projects, via offering retail clients a chance to purchase a Partnership in a Limited Partnership (LP) accompanied with a Certificate of Debt. All funds raised are for a total of three years from the date of signing of agreement. All UK Limited Partners will be entitled to a return of 8 % per annum on the value of their payment, payable on a quarterly basis.

Highlights

• Asset Backed – Capital raised is backed by the Assets owned by Essex and London Properties meaning your principle capital is secured
• Fixed Income – 8% per annum paid quarterly
• 3 Year Term – Initial capital is returned on the 3rd anniversary of your investment
• Early exit available – Capital is redeemable on any anniversary of your investment subject to 90 days written notice
• Fully transparent – All land registry deeds disclosed to investors for all properties purchased
• Low entry level – Investments start at £5,000
• FCA regulated escrow – All funds handled by Escrow Custodian Services FCA Registration Number 627909

The spring and summer of 2014 saw a boom in the UK property market; this was mostly in London and the South of England. Towards the end of 2014 activity in the housing market started to drop away a little but still continued to show positive and sustainable growth.

HMRC figures show us that house sales were consistently above 100,000 each month throughout 2014, which is the first time that has been the case for over 7 years. The last time house sales were above 100,000 each month was back 2007.

Experts and mortgage brokers feel that activity levels within the property market in the UK are unlikely to change very much in 2015, when compared to 2014. It has been suggested by many property experts that UK house prices will grow by an average on 4 % over 2015.

With the future outlook of UK property market showing positive signs coupled with strong economic activity and strong future predictions by mortgage companies and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Essex and London Properties Limited believe that with right positioning in the UK property market and timely acquisition of depressed assets, can offer sustainable returns to our clients.

f you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below.

Kind Regards,

Sami Raja

Senior Sales Consultant

Tel: 0203 6333 524

Skype: hgp.samiraja

Email: sami@heronglobalpartners.com

Web: www.heronglobalpartners.com

Info: info@heronglobalpartners.com

150 Minories, City of London, EC3N 1LS

Heron Global Partners Limited is registered in England and Wales. Reg No: 08689969