A United Kingdom court, the Inner London Crown Court, has sentenced five Nigerians to various jail terms over the theft of £610,000 from business bank accounts.
- 2 women and three men from Nigeria have been sentenced to jail in UK
- They were found guilty of stealing from various bank accounts
A United Kingdom court, the Inner London Crown Court, has sentenced five Nigerians to various jail terms over the theft of £610,000 from business bank accounts.
The court heard how Victor Oke, 39, of Galleons Drive, Barking, used stolen data provided by Desmond Uyiosa Abifade, 25, of Henniker Road, Stratford, to falsely impersonate company directors via telephone banking.
The Newham Recorder reports that once Oke gained access, he diverted funds to ‘mule’ beneficiary accounts monitored by Moses Kuye, 28, of Connaught Road, Silvertown.
Victor Oke and Moses Kuye. Photo credit: Newham Recorder
Melinda Mensah-Oke, 37, also of Galleons Drive, impersonated company directors when a female voice was necessary, while Arinola Kuye, 27, also of Connaught Road, acted as the group’s money launderer.
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They were caught after being spotted by fraud investigators at HSBC, who passed the case to the dedicated card and payment crime unit (DCPCU) to investigate.
Melinda Mensah-Oke and Arinola Kuye. Photo credit: Newham Recorder
The DCPCU is sponsored by the banking industry and made up of officers from the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, bank investigators and support staff from UK Finance.
Police were able to analyse when and where the calls were made to identify the phones used and from there, the perpetrators.
All five were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, which they pleaded not guilty to.
On Wednesday, Oke was sentenced to four years in prison, while Moses Kuye was jailed for three years and three months.
Desmond Abifade. Photo credit: Newham Recorder
Mensah-Oke received a fourteen month suspended sentence and Abifade a two year suspended sentence.
Arinola Kuye was given a 12-month community order and instructed to complete 50 hours of unpaid work.
DC Dave Cass, who investigated the case for the DCPCU said: “This was a concerted effort to commit fraud against two companies and profit from crime.
“The police take fraud very seriously and these sentences should send a message to fraudsters that you will be caught and punished.”
All the stolen money have been refunded to the genuine business account holders.
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria has raised an alarm over a fake website purported to belong to it, which was deployed by fraudulent element with the intent to defraud unsuspecting victims.
In a statement by Isaac Okorafor, the acting director, corporate communications, the CBN said it has only one website.
The statement read that the bank’s attention had been drawn to a scam being perpetrated by some fraudulent persons whereby unsuspecting members of the public are diverted to a fake website purported to belong to the apex bank.
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Source: Naija.ng
