BY Fredrick Nwabufo
Kayode Sanni, a Nigerian, who led a gang which used the identities of members of parliaments, judges and police officers to steal millions of pounds from taxpayers, has been jailed for more than five years by a UK court.
According to a Dailymail report, Sanni received a jail term of five years and three months for his part in the elaborate scam.
The report said the fraudsters stole personal details from the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC), which provides sport and fitness facilities to more than 120,000 public sector employees and pensioners.
“Member lists were ‘stolen to order’ from CSSC and used to place orders for tax credit starter packs used in fraudulent claims over a four year period,” it said.
“CSSC events manager Adedamola Oyebode, 30, stole membership lists and passed them on to her brothers-in-law Oluwatobe Emmanuel Odeyemi, 34, and Oluwagbenga Stephen Odeyemi, 39, who ran the fraud with Kayode Sanni, 38.”
“The gang managed to get away with £2,500,000 before staff at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs spotted the ‘extraordinarily high rate’ of claims being made by civil servants.
“He was convicted after standing trial for one count of conspiracy to become knowingly concerned in a fraudulent act between 10 March 2009 and 11 June 2013.”
The report said Odeyemi, Chantelle Gumbs and Oyebode – all members of the gang – had already pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
“Odeyemi was jailed for three and a half years, Gumbs was handed a 15-month sentence suspended for two years, and Oyebode received a two-year sentence suspended for two years,” it said.
It added that if the scam had not been stopped it could have reaped more than £10,260,525.
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