How one of Britain’s biggest shoplifters made £500,000 with Boots, TK Maxx and John Lewis

One of Britain’s most prolific shoplifters made more than £500,000 by getting shops to give refunds on items they never bought.

CCTV footage showed Narinder Kaur, also known as Nina Tiara, simply taking items from store shelves and carrying them to the checkout to initiate a return.

The 53-year-old, who is believed to be a mother of one, repeated the pattern of faking purchases and refunds on hundreds of occasions at various stores across the UK including Boots, TK Maxx, HomeSense and John Lewis.

Kaur, from Wiltshire, had “made it her full-time career” stealing items from high street shops for four years before she was caught in Gloucester Crown Court and tried.

She was convicted on all 26 counts, including fraud, possession and transfer of criminal property, and perversion of justice.

Narinder Kaur, also known as Nina Tiara, ‘hosted on an industrial scale’ across the country and made over £500,000 by getting shops to give refunds on items she never bought

CCTV footage showed Kaur simply taking items from store shelves and carrying them to the checkout to initiate a return

Kaur lives in this house (pictured) in a pretty village just outside Chippenham, Wiltshire, with a brand new Mercedes parked in the driveway

At the trial, District Attorney Gareth Weetman said Kaur’s crime was stopped when police examined her bank and credit cards and found “an extraordinary history of refund payments.”

Kaur also defrauded law firms by hiring them to sue her brother and then using male accomplices to pay damages with stolen credit cards – which were forwarded to Kaur.

She was “undeterred” by the charges and lied to the court to get her bail terms changed for medical appointments so she could steal again, prosecutors said.

But when she tried to get a refund from Dunelm in Swindon, she aroused suspicions, and she was arrested.

Police then searched her home and found £108,000 in cash and 49 shopping bags full of goods.

Kaur had defrauded the various retailers over a thousand times between July 2015 and February 2019, prosecutors have proven.

A close examination of her bank and various credit card accounts revealed that she had visited and scammed a number of stores more than 1,000 times during her four-year plan.

The 53-year-old “made it her full-time career” to swipe items from high street shops

She was recorded on CCTV entering stores, taking items off the shelves and taking them to the checkout, pretending to have bought them previously.

Kaur, who lives in a house believed to belong to another family member, received more than half a million pounds in refunds from shops, according to the lawsuit.

She also attempted to defraud Wiltshire Council by using stolen credit cards to pay for services before asking the council for a refund. She would claim she accidentally made a payment “with too many zeros.”

Her scam even involved a male accomplice helping her use stolen bank card details to make payments to her own heating oil supplier.

The trial was told Kaur lied to the court and produced a forged document to evade a speeding conviction and ease bail conditions.

About £150,000 in cash was found hidden in her home along with stolen goods when police searched it for evidence.

The CPS was able to prove the case using financial data, retail records, witness statements and CCTV footage.

An investigation found Kaur carried out her plan in boat shops across the UK – including in Dudley, Smethwick, Droitwich and Kidderminster. She received £60,787.09 in refunds from Boots despite only spending £5,172.73 in stores.

The convict received £42,853.65 in rebates from Debenhams despite only having spent £3,681.33.

She also defrauded John Lewis and visited shops in Milton Keynes, Watford, Chester, Cardiff, Chichester, Basingstoke, Nottingham, Newbury, Exeter, Southampton, Reading, Birmingham, Tamworth and Leicester. The defendant received £33,131.61 in refunds but only spent £5,290.36.

TK Maxx was scammed out of £14,563.53 as part of the scheme (pictured: Kaur at one of their stores)

John Lewis commented to MailOnline that his stores have a “wide range” of measures in place to “deter and catch” shoplifters and fraudsters. These practices also aim to protect partners and customers.

The court heard Kaur also visit Monsoon stores – including in Telford and Shrewsbury – demanding £23,000 more in refunds than payments for purchases.

She went on to target House of Fraser stores, spending £2,853.55 but demanding £23,147.75 in refunds. The Birmingham shop was one of several she visited.

Fraudster Kaur defrauded Homesense stores in Stafford, Shrewsbury, Cannock, Solihull and Worcester, among others. There she only spent £1,181.45 but claimed £19,540.17 in refunds.

TK Maxx was scammed out of £14,563.53 while they scammed Homebase out of £3,238.47, the CPS said.

She targeted Homebase between August 2015 and February 2019, defrauding the company of £3,238.47.

Kaur’s insult also resulted in her cheating Wiltshire Council out of £7,400.

MailOnline has reached out to Wiltshire retailers and Council for comment.

Kaur was convicted by the jury on a total of 26 counts, including fraud, possession and transfer of criminal property, and perversion of justice.

Her conviction was issued on March 10 after a four-month trial at Gloucester Crown Court.

Now the scammer faces jail time for her scheme and was remanded in custody before sentencing.

The crimes took place between July 2015 and February 2019. Prosecutors said Kaur had a number of bank and credit card accounts.

Giovanni D’Alessandro, Senior Crown Prosecutor at CPS West Midlands, said: “Kaur has committed fraud in a long-standing and widespread manner.

“It was a very lucrative full-time job, reportedly earning her over half a million pounds during this period of offence.

“She went to extraordinary lengths to carry out her deceptions, finding a way to scam a retailer and then traveling across the country to repeat the scam.

“She has also legally changed her name and opened new bank accounts and credit cards with a second identity to avoid detection.

“She now rightfully faces substantial punishment for her crimes, and prosecutors will seek to recover as much of her ill-gotten gains as the law will allow.”

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk