Mohammed Syed Sheikh, 51, was caught buying 17 passports from courier Sharaz Shah, 27, in Gorton last year in a deal brokered by his 26-year-old son,

Mohammed Syed Sheikh, 51, was caught buying 17 passports from courier Sharaz Shah, 27, in Gorton last year in a deal brokered by his 26-year-old son, Sheikh Sohail.
The identity documents were among 3650 stolen from a van in Chadderton on the way to RAF Northolt in July 2008 after driver's mate Alan Burke colluded with robbers in staging a sham heist.Mohammed Sheikh, labelled 'totally dishonest' by Judge Michael Henshell, had heard about the passports through underworld contacts and planned to sell them on the black market at profit.But he was kept under surveillance by police officers who saw him take £8,000 from a bank in Chorlton before driving to Gorton Chippie, his son's takeaway, to pick up the stolen documents from Shah last May.
Mohammed Syed Sheikh, a father-of-four, of Cheetham Hill Road, Cheetham Hill, was jailed for four years and six months.He admitted handling stolen goods and two counts of posessing identity documents with intent.At the time of his arrest he was using a fake licence to drive and get insurance after being banned from the road for drink driving.He also used a fake passport to run a bank account, and entered the country in 2001 on false papers.Father-of-four Sheihk Sohail was found guilty of handling stolen goods at a trial which ended on Friday and jailed for three years and nine months.He admitted perverting the course of justice and attempting to obtain property by deception.At the time of his arrest he had been on the run for nearly eight years after trying to buy nearly £600 of clothes from Gap with a cloned credit card, and the details he gave police of his identity were false.Bolton University dropout Sharaz Shah, of Brinnington Road, Stockport, admitted handling stolen goods and was jailed for two years for his part in the deal.Sentencing, Judge Michael Henshell said: "All three of you were involved in an offence involving stolen passports.
Contraband"Passports are of course a highly prized form of contraband which will inevitably lead to further offences by getting into general circulation."Driver's mate Alan Burke, 49, was jailed for four and half years in October after admitting conspiracy to steal for his part in the sham raid which put the passports on the streets.Four other men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle the passports and visas.Father-of-10 Mohammed Bilal Khan, 53, of Werneth, who was described as a 'prime mover' in the crime, was jailed for five and a half years, while another key figure, Pakistani national Mohammed Fiaz, 34, of Stretford, was imprisoned for three and a half years.Mohammed Shanawaz, 24, of Chadderton, received a three-year jail sentence and Jawad Karim, 18, of Oldham, was ordered to serve 21 months in a young offenders' institution for his part in the racket.