Scamming fish-sellers caught and imprisoned

TWO scammers who headed up a rogue fish-selling racket have been jailed.

- DANIEL HALL

Sunil Satyapal Khanna, 68, and Daran David Bankhead, 48, were sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading under the Companies Act 2006.

For years, traders, facilitated by Khanna and Bankhead, posed as legitimate mobile fish sellers, often claiming to be from long-established family businesses.

However, they used a pattern of unfair, misleading and aggressive behaviour to deceive the elderly and vulnerable out of hundreds of pounds.

Complaints described sellers targeting residents in their homes, pushing their way inside, dumping boxes of unlabelled or poor-quality fish in kitchens and hallways, and refusing to leave until frightened victims handed over bank cards or cash.