A private tutor in Liverpool made more than £300,000 by logging into university accounts, completing coursework, and sitting online exams for students.
Shahid Adnan, 43, of Lysander Close in Everton, was jailed for three years at Liverpool Crown Court on June 17, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Adnan ran a company called Study Sharp Ltd. Prosecutors said he obtained students’ passcodes, used their university accounts, submitted work, and took exams in return for payment.
The case started with one USB drive. A Liverpool John Moores University student handed it in with coursework in February 2023, and checks on the device exposed files that linked back to Adnan.
The USB Drive Still Had His Files On It
JAILED | Detectives from our Cyber Investigations Team are welcoming the sentencing of a Liverpool man to three years in prison for large-scale assessment fraud against a number of universities.
— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) June 17, 2026
The fraud came to light on Feb. 24, 2023, when a student in LJMU’s computer forensics department submitted coursework on a pen drive.
CPS said a senior manager inserted the USB stick into a computer and ran a digital forensics tool. The report showed the device had previously been used by Adnan, and documents on it linked to Study Sharp Ltd.
The manager also found spreadsheets containing other LJMU students’ modules, coursework due dates, financial information, and personal login credentials for the university network.
LJMU passed the evidence to Merseyside Police’s Cyber Dependant Crime Unit. Further analysis of IP addresses used to submit student work helped investigators trace activity to the address where Adnan was later arrested.
He Admitted Sitting One Student’s Exam
Adnan admitted he had sat an exam for the student who handed in the pen drive, prosecutors said.
He said he had logged into the student’s LJMU account using that student’s personal details and had been paid £250 for the service. CPS said he claimed he was “not aware” that he needed authority from the university to access the account.
Investigators later found evidence that Adnan may have been doing work for 124 students at universities around the world, according to Merseyside Police.
He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, causing a computer to perform a function to secure or enable unauthorized access to data, and converting criminal property.
Police Found Large Balances Across His Accounts
CPS said Adnan’s known occupations were tutor and Amazon Flex delivery driver, but police found a lifestyle beyond that declared income.
He had an Audi and a BMW, expensive home furnishings, and large balances across several accounts. CPS said his Barclays account contained £1,505,156, his Lloyds personal account contained £600,590, his Lloyds business account contained £245,279, and a PayPal account contained £110,214.
Sky News reported that £2.4 million was discovered across Adnan’s PayPal and bank accounts, while investigators determined he had earned at least £300,000 illegally.
That distinction is important: the larger figure was money found across accounts, while the £300,000 figure was the amount investigators tied to his illegal earnings.
One Student Paid More Than £14,000
A BBC-syndicated report carried by AOL said one LJMU student paid Adnan more than £14,000 for cheating help.
CPS said the student data found on the USB drive included usernames, passwords, coursework dates, and financial information. Merseyside Police said Adnan’s company had received payments from LJMU students and possibly students at other UK universities.
Detective Sergeant Adam Dagnall said the evidence showed Adnan could log into student accounts and complete assessments for them.
“Cheating at academic institutions is a serious matter, which if left unchallenged can result in students gaining qualifications and moving into careers without having the necessary skills and abilities,” Dagnall said in the Merseyside Police release.
Sharing A University Login Can Leave A Trail
Students who give a tutor, essay writer, classmate, or online service their university login are giving away more than access to an assignment.
The account may include grades, messages, course deadlines, personal data, payment records, saved files, and assessment portals. It can also leave IP records, submission logs, timestamps, file metadata, and password history that link the account to whoever used it.
For students and families paying for tutoring, the safer line is simple: help with study notes, practice questions, feedback, or exam preparation should not require a university password. If a tutor asks to log in, submit work, sit an exam, or “handle” coursework through the student portal, that is not tutoring.
Merseyside Police said proceedings will now begin to recover Adnan’s assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act.