Posted on the 18th June 2026 in PHTM News

PHD TUTOR TURNED UBER DRIVER JAILED AFTER £300,000 UNIVERSITY CHEATING SCAM UNCOVERED

A highly educated private tutor with a PhD who was "led down a dark path" has been jailed for three years after running a sophisticated university contract cheating company.

Shahid Adnan, 43, used his business, Study Sharp Ltd, to sit exams and submit coursework on behalf of students across approximately ten UK universities.

The lucrative fraud allowed the dad-of-four to fund a luxury lifestyle far beyond his means, boasting a high-end house, an Audi A4, and a BMW 5 Series.

The widespread deception was uncovered when a computer forensics student handed a USB storage drive to a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University (JMU). When analysed, the pen drive was found to contain university login credentials, module details, and evidence linking back to Adnan.

A subsequent police investigation revealed that Adnan had the usernames and passwords of 124 different students stored on his laptops. One student alone had paid him over £14,000, and his bank accounts showed massive credits that far outstripped any legitimate income.

While initial suspicions suggested Adnan may have netted up to £2 million, the agreed benefit from his crimes was later reduced to £300,000.

Following the discovery of his fraud, Adnan was forced to give up his tutoring business and began working as an Uber driver to support his family.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Adnan pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering, and securing unauthorised computer access. His defence barrister noted that Adnan was a devoted family man of previous good character who was filled with "considerable shame" for letting his family down.

In sentencing him to three years in prison, Recorder Andrew Vinson told Adnan that his crimes were prolonged and sophisticated. "Effectively, what you did was to fraudulently monetise, for your own benefit, the exam and coursework systems at a number of universities without any regard to how that cheating cheapens such matters for others," the judge said.

Police confirmed that Adnan could now be ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act.


Read another story