Four conmen who duped the late EastEnders star June Brown into advertising their business have been sentenced.
Zulkernan Mahmood, Rehan Yousaf, Jonathan O’Grady and David Goody hired the Dot Cotton actress to appear in a television advert that promoted their energy efficiency services.
June wasn’t aware of the company’s illegal activities.
The group’s company are believed to have taken more than £1m from victims.
According to Trading Standards, they had hidden their identities and then secured a number of jobs through misrepresentation, claiming to be part of a government scheme and then completing substandard work.
As reported by BBC News, Lord Michael Bichard, chair of the Nation Trading Standards said: ‘These men left many people with extensive remedial works required at their homes; some were left living in structurally unstable properties with no viable means of repairing the damage done due to the financial losses they incurred.’
Mahmood and Yousef both admitted fraudulent trading and participating in a fraudulent business. The former was sentenced for six years, four months and was also handed a 10 year criminal behaviour order (CBO) and disqualified from being a company director for 14 years.
Yousef was jailed for two years, six months in prison, to run concurrently with a sentence of seven years, 11 months that he is currently serving.
He was also handed a 10 year CBO and will not be able to be a director for the next 12 months.
O’Grady was found guilty of fraudulent trading and participating in a fraudulent business and has been handed a two year suspended sentence alongside 220 hours of unpaid work, whilst Goody admitted participating in a fraudulent business and will have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
The two men are also disqualified from leading a company.
June passed away in 2022 aged 95, leaving the BBC soap two years earlier.
She defined a generation of the show after first appearing just months after the first episode in 1985.
The star died at her home in Surrey with her family by her side, with an EastEnders spokesperson paying tribute to the iconic actress.
The statement at the time read: ‘We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved June Brown, OBE, MBE, sadly passed away last night.
‘There are not enough words to describe how much June was loved and adored by everyone at EastEnders, her loving warmth, wit and great humour will never be forgotten.
‘June created one of the most iconic characters in Dot Cotton, not just in soap but in British television, and having appeared in 2,884 episodes, June’s remarkable performances created some of EastEnders’ finest moments.’
They added: ‘We send all our love and deepest sympathies to June’s family and friends. A very bright light has gone out at EastEnders today but we shall all be raising a sweet sherry in June’s memory Rest in peace, our dearest June. You will never be forgotten.’