A FORMER Burnley councillor convicted of offences under the Insolvency Act has today been jailed for twelve months.

Abdul Aziz, a bankrupt landlord, failed to report that he had transferred ownership of 15 houses to his son before the bankruptcy.

Aziz, 50, of Thurston Road, Burnley, was made bankrupt in 2001 with debts of more than £50,000.

The jury at Preston Crown Court went on to find him guilty of a total of four offences, one of fraudulently disposing of property and three of non-disclosure of property.

Aziz had no previous convictions.

Judge Christopher Cornwall told him: "It has to be made clear, not just to you but to others, that when there is an obligation to give full and frank disclosure, when there is an obligation to tell the truth and the whole truth, breaches of that obligation are regarded seriously and are met with loss of liberty".

The background to the case was that a woman launched an action a number of years ago to sue Aziz for damages.

In March 1997 he was said to have instructed the transfer of 15 properties to his son. The following year the woman obtained a judgment of nearly £6,000 against him.

The court was told that in August 2001 the defendant was made bankrupt.

And in a questionnaire he concealed the fact that he had a life policy cashed that year.

The judge said the defendant had also deliberately concealed a charge on a property of £6,000, which represented a successful judgment. And he had failed to disclose an earlier disposal of 15 properties.

The defendant's barrister told the court at the sentencing hearing that Aziz's good standing in the community had been shattered.

He had acted out of character in a desperate situation.