A "PROFESSIONAL liar" who claimed to have recruited more than 200 jihadists to attend terror training camps abroad has been jailed over a £1.1 million eBay fraud.

Hassan Butt, of Sheepfoot Lane, Prestwich sold non-existent electrical goods via the online marketplace in the run-up to Christmas 2014 and no items were delivered to some 3,000 customers.

The bulk of the funds received by his company, MiGenie, was then transferred to a bank account held in Dubai.

Complaints flooded in from customers and an investigation was launched by eBay officials, who alerted police when they discovered Butt's previous self-confessed links to Islamic terrorism and feared the money would be used for that purpose, Manchester Crown Court heard today.

Butt had previously given numerous media interviews about how he had sent recruits to training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan and of his close links with terror group al Qaida, the court was told.

He later renounced his espousal of terror attacks on the Western public and the teachings of former UK-based extremist Omar Bakri Muhammad who, he said, had groomed him.

When called as witness at a terrorism trial in 2008 in Manchester, however he conceded he was a "professional liar" who would say "absolutely anything" to make money - even if it damaged community relations and caused trouble for fellow Muslims.

Today, Butt was jailed for a total of 13 years after he was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and money laundering.

In addition to the eBay scam, Butt was also convicted of fraudulently obtaining £47,000 of loans and credit and a £6,000 online fraud where he ordered iPads and gold bars and claimed refunds when lying that he had not received them.

He received nine years for those offences and an additional four years for perverting the course of justice when he dodged speeding tickets on 17 occasions over a four-year period by giving false details on notice of intended prosecution forms.

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to doing an act intended to pervert the course of justice.

He has also been disqualified from driving for five years upon his release from prison.

Sentencing Butt, Judge Anthony Cross QC told him: "I find it almost impossible to decide when you speak whether or not the truth is falling from your lips. You are indeed a man who has woven a complex tapestry of deceit throughout your adult life.

"These offences of dishonesty and perjury demonstrate your true religion ­— it is a religion that worships Mammon and deception. The plan was to obtain cash, and cash in excess of £1.1 million was obtained and it disappeared like the proverbial will-o'-the-wisp to Dubai.

"I am satisfied from all that I have seen and heard that you are a man who shows not one single jot of remorse. At times you seem to wallow in your dishonesty."

Butt smirked in the dock throughout the sentencing hearing and shouted "liars, liars" to investigating officers as he was led to the cells.

Butt organised a scam whereby he submitted false names to identify the offending driver on Notices of Intended Prosecution forms ­— which are sent to the registered keeper of a car when it triggers a speed camera.

A portion of the form allows for the suspect to nominate another driver as having committed the offence.

Butt filled in this section using a number of fictitious names and birth dates, but all using the same address of Copthall Lane, Manchester.

Since 2007, there were 66 speed camera offences across 13 different force areas linked to Butt.

The same cars were caught numerous times, included an Audi Q7, Audi A6, a Mercedes and a Porsche.

Forensic analysis of the notices linked Butt to the scam and he was arrested.

Constable Vaughan Sherrah-Davies, from GMP’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “Butt was a prolific offender. He seemed to consider himself above the law – submitting numerous fabricated names and thinking nothing would ever come of it. His actions were bungling and short sighted.

“After being prosecuted for driving while disqualified, he even used his car on several occasions to visit a police station. His attempts at deception left a significant trail of data and forensic evidence that linked him directly to the scam. Is it worth providing false information, resulting in the likelihood of going to prison, when all you have to do is slow down?”