Two Nigerians have been jailed in London after fraudulently obtaining a £489,000 coronavirus bounce back loan.
Timilehin Yvette Olasemo, 39 of Badele Road, Romford, and Olufumi David Akinneye, 33 (2.11.87), of Cowthorpe Road, Lambeth, exploited the Government’s scheme by using the identities of eight people to obtain the money.
Olasemo appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, 17 March and was sentenced to three years and two months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
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The duo pleaded guilty to the offence on 12 November 2020 at the same court.
Akineye was sentenced to five years and six months imprisonment for conspiracy to launder money and commit fraud.
The UK government created a scheme to support businesses struggling due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The scheme was effectively a Government-backed loan organised and managed through UK banks.
A business qualifies for the loan if the bank is satisfied with the turnover.
To help business owners, the Government ensured the loan scheme was favourable to businesses and applications were quickly processed.
The Government also relaxed the heavy security checks due to the pandemic’s unprecedented nature and the economic consequences on the UK economy.
Olasemo collaborated with others to exploit the weaknesses in the application by creating fake businesses – using the identities of real people to apply for the loans.
According to the charge sheet, “the business account had been registered to a separate address to the personal account holder’s address; its existence would not become apparent to the real personal account holder until the bank chased them for the loan repayments.”
Investigators from the Met’s North West London Economic Crime Unit first identified Akinneye and later tracked Olasemo from the documents seized during Akinneye’s arrest.
He was arrested on Thursday, 20 August.
Detectives arrested Olasemo at her home address on 16, October 2020 and she was remanded in custody the same day.
Investigation revealed that the fraudster had used the identities of ten people to request loans amounting to £489,000.
Of the £489,000, the pair had successfully obtained £297,000, while the banks stopped the remaining amount.
Detectives believed that Olasemo accessed employee records and stole the identities of eight individuals during her employment to apply for the loans.
Detectives also found out that the monies were paid into a business account which was later dispersed into mule accounts and withdrawn from cash machines.
the police also believed that Olasemo, who was the prime suspect, consulted with Akinneye, who provided her with guidance and safe addresses to use in laundering the proceeds
Akinnele was also the middle-man who searched for willing participants who provided their bank accounts for use.
The police said £290,381 obtained passed through the mule accounts connected to Akinneye.
Detective Constable Chris Collins of the Met’s North West Economic Crime Unit said: “Today’s result serves as evidence of the zero-tolerance approach the MPS takes to individuals found guilty of fraud.
“We will continue to crackdown on individuals who are found to be exploiting government schemes for their own monetary gain.”
Akinneye was also convicted of romance fraud after police found false personal on his phone – pretending to be a woman online to ensnare men – fabricating several stories to request money for flights, accommodation and a replacement passport.
The police also found out that Akinneye turned some of his victims into mules themselves who were willing to allow him to use their bank accounts for fraudulent funds.
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