Taxi boss faked evidence
Published on Tuesday 16 August 2011 10:02
A taxi boss fabricated evidence in a bid to hoodwink a tribunal panel in a case brought by an employee of his Leeds firm.
Father of six Ashiq Ali, 49, from Alwoodley, has been awarded more than £18,000 in damages, costs and unpaid wages after he was suspended from a treasurer’s job at City Cabs Association amid allegations of misappropriating funds.
A tribunal found the chairman of the firm Khaliq Ahmed – who is a Justice of the Peace in Leeds – fabricated evidence including fake payslips and a termination letter, and changing the minutes of the firm’s AGM to try to show that Mr Ali’s suspension had been properly ratified by committee members.
A counterclaim by the Association, with a list of allegations including misappropriation of thousands of pounds, was dismissed by the tribunal judges.
After his victory, Mr Ali told the YEP: “My family and I have suffered injustice for nearly two years. I am happy and relieved to have my name cleared after a lengthy and costly legal battle.”
In its 12 page ruling, the tribunal panel said Mr Ahmed, who was representing the firm, had given “untruthful” and “unreliable” evidence.
These included:
* A fabricated suspension letter - Mr Ali had never formally been told of his suspension.
* Instructing accountants to produce false payslips and false claims of having paid Mr Ali.
* Altering the minutes of the firm’s AGM “either at Mr Ahmed’s instigation or with his knowledge”
The judgement said: “The tribunal rejects as untruthful Mr Ahmed’s evidence that he wrote to Mr Ali ... to notify that his appointment as Treasurer had been terminated. A document included in the bundle purporting to be a letter of that date was fabricated.
“The Tribunal accepts that Mr Ahmed gave untruthful evidence of issues relating to the Association’s power to suspend Mr Ali from work, the date of termination and whether he had been paid holiday pay.
“Mr Ahmed’s intention was to mislead the tribunal in order to strengthen the Association’s defence to Mr Ali’s claim.
“He [Mr Ali] was entitled to most of the sums he claimed.
“The Association’s conduct of the proceedings was unreasonable ...its defence to Mr Ali’s claims was largely based on a conscious misrepresentation of the facts.”
Mr Ali, who is still a hackney carriage driver, was elected to be the Association’s treasurer in March 2009. He was suspended six months later.
City Cabs Association, which is a non-profit organisation representing 300 Hackney carriage drivers, was ordered to pay Mr Ali £10,000 legal costs, almost £2,000 costs for defending the counterclaim, almost £600 damages for breach of contract and almost £5,500 unpaid wages,
Source; http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... vidence_1_3683056
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