United Wholesale (Scotland), the cash-and-carry business owned by Mohammad Sarwar and his family, has bought out the stake owned by the Glasgow MP's son Athif, who was jailed for fraud last May.
United Wholesale (Scotland), the cash-and-carry business owned by Mohammad Sarwar and his family, has bought out the stake owned by the Glasgow MP's son Athif, who was jailed for fraud last May.
Accounts for the company for calendar 2007, filed at Companies House and obtained by The Herald, show the company paid £1,250,000 to acquire the 3111 shares owned by Athif Sarwar in April in a transaction that valued the company at £6.7m.
The share buy-back came 11 months after Athif Sarwar resigned as a director of United Wholesale (Scotland) after being sentenced to three years in jail. Athif Sarwar, then aged 28, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after being convicted of processing VAT frauds worth £845,137.
He was convicted of laundering money from six companies into United Wholesale (Scotland) Ltd, at Maxwell Road in Glasgow, between February 24 and April 25, 2003.
Speaking after his son's conviction, Mohammad Sarwar said: "I am 100% convinced and satisfied my son didn't do anything wrong so we will be definitely appealing this verdict."
Athif Sarwar, who had been United Wholesale's managing director, was freed last July pending an appeal.
The appeal is still at the procedural hearing stage.
The firm's latest accounts show United Wholesale achieved strong growth in sales and operating profits following a move to a new base in Queenslie, Glasgow.
Operating profits more than doubled, to £770,267 from £281,915 in 2006.
Turnover increased by 19%, to £117m from £99m.
Members of the Sarwar family shared total dividends of £100,000, compared with £108,750 in 2006.
Mohammad Sarwar set up UWS after splitting the former United Wholesale Grocers' business with his brother, fellow cash-and-carry tycoon Mohammad Ramzan, in early 2002.
Sarwar's half of the enterprise began trading as UWS, focusing on groceries and frozen foods.
