THE director of a St Albans minicab firm has been jailed for 10 months after being found guilty last month of money-laundering offences.

Waqar Khan who lives in Luton and was the director of GMC Ltd, which traded as City Cars in St Albans, was charged following an investigation by Herts Police Fraud Squad.

His company had an arrangement with Herts county council to transport two people in Welwyn Garden City, one to school and the other to a day care centre.

By 2008 neither person required the services of City Cars but Khan continued to send invoices to the county council for providing minicabs for journeys which were no longer being undertaken.

The scam continued until 2010 and resulted in a fraudulent payment to Khan which was in excess of �160,000.

During the trial Khan accepted the journeys had not taken place since 2008 but said he was entitled to claim the money because the council had not cancelled the arrangement. The jury rejected his claim and he was found guilty on September 18 at St Albans Crown Court.

Confiscation proceedings will now commence to recover the fraudulently paid money.