He invited Afghan migrants into his residence… what they did will scar him without end | UK | News | EUROtoday

A person who unsuspectingly invited two “shy” Afghan migrants into his residence after assembly them on a courting app has revealed the second he realised they have been “not the same people” as a profile picture steered. The skilled, from London, had innocently agreed to satisfy a person who “looked like a white guy in the profile picture” after messaging on the Grindr app in November final yr.

The 47-year-old stated the individual he messaged requested if he may convey a pal to their assembly, which had been organized on the sufferer’s residence in West London. But when the pair arrived, it took solely “half a second” for the person to grasp neither of the 2 strangers seemed just like the individual within the image on the app.

Despite preliminary issues, the person, who thought the pair have been from “Afghanistan or Pakistan”, stated he believed they might have been “shy, inexperienced or embarrassed as some people can be discreet, especially from certain cultures”.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he stated: “I gave them the benefit of the doubt. It didn’t strike me that they might be criminals. I’m not on Grindr that much anyway really so I thought maybe it was inexperience on my part.”

But what the person didn’t know was that the 2 males he had invited into his residence have been the truth is serial fraudsters Rahmat Khan Mohammadi, 22, and Bilal Hotak, 21. The pair have been jailed in December after finishing up 35 burglaries and 20 associated scams, seizing telephones, watches, passports and withdrawing cash from financial institution accounts in a spree price £68,000 in six months.

Mohammadi and Hotak used courting apps as a tactic to trick their victims into assembly them of their properties earlier than finishing up the thefts.

Speaking after the duo have been caged, the person stated in his personal case he was requested to go to the lavatory. He left his telephone behind because it was enjoying music. He added: “They took it and left. The front door was open and they had gone.

“I used to be shocked and distressed. It’s very violating having somebody in your house after which disappearing a minute later.”

Met Police officers later tracked down Mohammadi and Hotak, both Afghan nationals, and the pair were found guilty of burglary, fraud and theft at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday, November 4.

Both men were sentenced at the same court on Monday, December 22, with Mohammadi handed a five-year prison term, while Hotak will serve three-and-a-half years behind bars.

The Metropolitan Police said Mohammadi and Hotak would identify their victims and initiate contact via the dating app Grindr, and after exchanging messages online, would arrange to meet them at their homes. Once inside, the pair would use a range of distraction tactics to obtain mobile phone passwords before stealing their handsets and making a quick exit from the property, often using a getaway vehicle waiting nearby.

Mohammadi and Hotak would then access the victim’s personal data to make payments, withdraw money or transfer funds to other accounts. In some cases, they would steal other high-value items such as wallets, passports and watches.

The Met’s Specialist Crime Team were alerted by officers across several London boroughs following a number of reported thefts in which Grindr was a common feature. This led to them identifying 32 offences that had taken place over a two-week period and re-opening a number of historic thefts where all possible lines of enquiry had previously been explored.

Officers trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, ANPR data to identify vehicles, thousands of phone records and text messages, which not only enabled them to link Mohammadi and Hotak to each other, but also to their offending.

Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “We know that belief and confidence within the Met police is decrease among the many LGBT+ neighborhood than most teams, so guaranteeing victims felt heard, believed and brought critically was a key focus for us all through this investigation.

“We deployed specialist LGBT+ neighborhood liaison officers to evaluation these crimes and labored carefully with every sufferer to supply them help and recommendation day by day, and this proved essential in giving them the arrogance to talk to us and supply info.

“This method additionally supplied the catalyst for harsher sentences for Hotak and Mohammadi, as we have been capable of current stronger proof to the Crown Prosecution Service to escalate these offences from thefts to burglaries and frauds.

“And involving key neighborhood teams in tailor-made conferences the place we may share investigative updates meant they felt assured we have been progressing our enquiries and taking these crimes extraordinarily critically, whereas giving them the prospect to ask questions and assist form our resolution making.”