A Liverpool, England, man who worked as an Amazon Flex delivery driver has been jailed after prosecutors said he made more than $400,000 (around £300,000) by helping university students cheat. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Shahid Adnan was sentenced to three years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court on June 17, 2026. He had pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, unauthorized computer access, and converting criminal property.
Adnan also worked as a private tutor through a company called Study Sharp Ltd. Prosecutors said he logged into student accounts and completed coursework, assignments, and online exams for them in exchange for payment. One student paid him £250 to sit in on ann exam, and investigators later found evidence suggesting he may have done work for 124 students around the world.
The fraud was uncovered after a Liverpool John Moores University computer forensics student submitted a USB drive for assessment in 2023. The lecturer who checked it found files that appeared to belong to the previous owner of the drive. According to Merseyside Police, those files included student usernames, passwords, coursework submission dates, and financial information.
The university passed the information to police, and investigators began looking into Adnan’s activity. Further checks linked multiple coursework submissions to an IP address that was later traced to his home. Police said that evidence helped lead them to Adnan, who admitted that he had sat an exam for a student and had been paid for it.
How Shahid Adnan’s Exam Fraud Was Uncovered
The case began with the USB drive handed in at Liverpool John Moores University. Dr. Tom Berry, a lecturer in the university’s School of Computer Science and Mathematics, found that the drive contained more than the student’s own assessment documents. The material pointed to student accounts, deadlines, and payments connected to Adnan’s tutoring business.
The university then reviewed the IP addresses used to submit student work. One address was shared with Merseyside Police, and data from the internet service provider helped link it to the place where Adnan was arrested. Prosecutors said Adnan had been accessing university accounts to submit work and take exams on behalf of students.
What Investigators Found in Adnan’s Finances
Investigators said Adnan’s bank records did not match the income he had declared from tutoring and Amazon Flex delivery work. According to the CPS, police found more than £1.5 million in one Barclays account, more than £600,000 in a Lloyds personal account, and more than £245,000 in a Lloyds business account. A PayPal account held more than £110,000.
Police also found an Audi, a BMW, expensive furnishings, and cash at Adnan’s home. Prosecutors said the agreed criminal benefit was more than £300,000, though far larger sums had passed through his accounts. The CPS said a timetable has now been set for authorities to try to recover money from Adnan.