Jailed for £450k fraud

Four people have been sentenced for their role in an attempt to defraud a Housing Association of almost £450,000.

Adeshola Dada, 49 of Watts Crescent, Purfleet, Essex, who was employed in the IT department of Genesis Housing Association, was sentenced to five years in prison at the Southwark Crown Court in London.

Dada was found guilty of two counts of fraud following a trial at the same court on 19 August.

Three other people were also sentenced for their role in the scam.

James McMasters, 24 of The Heights, Northolt, Middlesex was found guilty of acquiring criminal property - he was sentenced to one year imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Danielle Gillian Brown, 25 of Church Lane, N8 was found guilty of the same offence. She was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, suspended for one year.

Ansar Ali, 43 of Limehouse Causeway, E14 had pleaded guilty to acquiring criminal property at an earlier hearing. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work.

The court heard how Dada, who had previously been convicted of fraud in 2005, had abused his position in the IT department of Genesis Housing Association to amend the passwords of two employees. He then diverted payments destined for genuine suppliers into the account of a company called Factwise Limited, run by Ali.

The company was alerted to the scam in late June 2011 and managed to stop a payment of £290,090 that was due to leave their accounts on 1 July 2011. However, an initial payment of £138,788 had already been made to Factwise and by the time the fraud was discovered some of the cash had gone missing.

Records showed that Ali's company had subsequently transferred sums of around £10,000 into the accounts of McMasters and Brown.

Officers from Westminster Crime Squad investigated the offence.

Detective Constable Kris Mason who led the investigation said: "Adeshola Dada abused his position of trust for the sole purpose of financial gain.

"Thankfully, the internal checks within the company meant they were quickly able to identify this criminal action, block the payments and report the crime to police.

"This was a complex and prolonged investigation but I am glad that all four people involved have been dealt with and convicted through the courts."