Fraudsters jailed for attempted £10.2m scam

Two members of an organised crime group, who attempted to claim £10.2million in tax credits using stolen identities of public sector employees, have been jailed for eight years and nine months by the Central Criminal Court (also known as the Old Bailey), after a complex criminal investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Two women received suspended prison sentences.

British-born 30-year-old Adedamola Oluwatoyin Oyebode of Knaphill Road Lewisham, London SE6; worked as an Events and Marketing Assistant for the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC). In April and June 2009, she accessed the CSSC’s password protected membership system and stole personal details of 10,300 members.

She then passed the data to her brother-in-law, 34-year-old Emmanuel Oluwatobi Odeyemi, of Gravesend, Kent. He was a key facilitator in the criminal operation, managing the stolen data used to make false tax credits claims.

Emmanuel Odeyemi’s friend, 38-year-old Kayode Sanni of Leeds, ensured the stolen data was used to apply for tax credits. He recruited and managed a friend, 34-year-old Chantelle Gumbs, also of Leeds. Her job was to request the tax credits application packs from HMRC used to make fraudulent tax credits claims. The gang completed the forms, adding details of bank accounts that had been set up to commit the fraud, and returned them to HMRC.

Investigators believe the fraudsters conspired with two others who are on-the-run, and are appealing for information on their whereabouts. Emmanuel Odeyemi’s brother, 39-year-old Stephen Oluwagbenga Odeyemi, and Stephen’s wife - 40-year-old Oluwatumininu Banjo also known as Tumi and 'Charmaine Davis', are thought to be in Nigeria. The couple used to live in Dagenham, Essex. HMRC is urging anyone with information about the couple to call its Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887 or +44 203 080 0871 if calling from outside the UK.

Adedamola Oluwatoyin Oyebode (a.k.a Dami and Damola) was arrested on 28 June 2012. She pleaded guilty on 20 December 2016 to her role in the conspiracy. Oyebode was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years. She must complete 160 hours of unpaid community work and is subject to a three month curfew.

Emmanuel Oluwatobi Odeyemi, also known as ‘Tobi’ and ‘Odus’, a Nigerian citizen and car trader of Palmer Avenue, Gravesend, Kent, was arrested on 9 October 2012. He pleaded guilty on 13 June 2017 to his role in the conspiracy. He was jailed for three and a half years.

Kayode Sanni, a Nigerian citizen and IT support worker of Moorland Road, Pudsey, Leeds is known to have used the names ‘David Cole’, ‘David Thompson’ and ‘Kay Sanni’. He was arrested on 20 March 2012, found guilty of his role in the conspiracy on 26 June 2017 and remanded in custody. He was jailed for five years and three months.

British citizen Chantelle Charmaine Gumbs of Francis Street, Leeds was arrested on 23 February 2011. She pleaded guilty on 14 October 2015 to her role in the conspiracy. Gumbs was sentenced to 15 months, suspended for two years. She also received a rehabilitation order.

The data stolen related to ten per cent of CSSC's  membership, which is mainly civil servants but also includes some armed forces and police force personnel, local authority employees, members of parliament, and retired public servants.

Simon York, Director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, said: “These criminals launched an organised attack on the tax credits system, a system designed to help some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

“Thanks to the experience of HMRC's officers, the effectiveness of our counter-fraud checks, and an extremely complex criminal investigation, the fraud was stopped and HMRC prevented £8 million of false claims being paid to the criminals.

“We will continue to tackle those committing tax credits fraud and ask anyone who has information about the two Nigerian citizens who may be connected with this fraud to call the HMRC Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

The scam was uncovered in late 2009 by HMRC’s Identity Fraud and Risk teams concerned about the volume of new claims for civil servants, predominately for working tax credits. Their initial enquiries also highlighted potential sources of a data leak. HMRC began a criminal investigation in April 2010 and through detailed forensic analysis, investigators uncovered the fraudsters, pieced together the scam, and identified the extent of the CSSC data loss.

HMRC’s investigators analysed huge amounts of information, including tax credits records, recordings of phone calls to the tax credits helpline, banking data, notebooks, diaries, computer, email, and data storage devices, and mobile phone, text message and telephone records. An expert voice analyst gave evidence during Kayode Sanni’s trial.

Of the 10,300 identities stolen, 2504 were used to make fraudulent tax credits claims resulting in £2.4 million being paid out. Further claims were made but not paid. Had the fraud not been uncovered and stopped, it is estimated that at least another £7.8 million would have been paid to the criminals, leading to a total attempted fraud of £10.2million.

Upon sentencing the fraudsters at the Old Bailey, His Honour Judge Dodgson, said: “It was a serious fraud that you all involved yourselves in”, adding to Sanni who stood trial, “the only remorse is that you got caught.”

His Honour commended the HMRC investigation team for their ‘meticulous work’.