Nigerians resident in the UK are part of a
criminal gang, have been convicted and jailed for a combined total of 18 years
and 2 months after gaining access to as many as 2,000 BT customers’ accounts in
an elaborate phone and email divert scam.
The convicts, who were
busted after a complex investigation which spanned more than two years, were
arraigned in court by Hampshire Constabulary’s Economic Crime Unit for the
crime which was committed between May 2014 and July 2016.
The Economic Crime Unit
uncovered £358,345 in losses, but the full extent of the fraud is expected to
be much higher. Portsmouth Crown Court heard the gang spent the money on Rolex
watches, high-value jewellery, TVs and designer clothes.
PSI Stephen Murden, from
the Economic Crime Unit said: “With the assistance of data from PayPal our
investigation was able to link fraudulent orders and deliveries to some of the
defendants’ addresses.
“We obtained evidence from
BT customers, retailers and from phones and computers seized during the initial
investigation. Analysis of the devices seized together with the other evidence
obtained enabled us to bring the case to court.
“We determined that PayPal
saw a loss of £205,000, and customers and merchants lost £87,000. However, we
believe the true extent of the fraud was not restricted to PayPal or the
addresses identified and the overall gain to some of the defendants was likely
to be much higher than the amounts identified.
“The information we
gathered proved that there was sufficient evidence to bring all eight
defendants to court for charges of conspiracy in relation to this sophisticated
scam. I am pleased that the hard work that went into this lengthy, complex
investigation resulted in all eight individuals pleading guilty.”
Upon being arrested during
a raid, the gang’s leader 36-year-old Festus Emosivwe chewed a USB data stick,
making it impossible to recover any data.
Judge Timothy Mousley QC
who presided over the case said; “The impact on your victims cannot be
underestimated. Many had seriously heightened levels of anxiety, stress and
fear after finding out their accounts had been hacked.
“Some expressed horror and
fury at being scammed by you.
“Many were retired people
who feared they’d be unable to get by financially. Each of you is responsible
for inflicting that misery upon them.”
The gang members who
pleaded guilty to all the charges, were sentenced as follows;
*Festus Emosivwe, 36, of
Newcome Road, Portsmouth, was jailed for 44 months for conspiracy to commit
fraud by false representation.
*Chloe Maylott, 27, of
Purbrook Way, Havant, was jailed for 16 months for conspiracy to commit fraud
by false representation.
*Charles Onwu, 31, of Wells
Close, Portsmouth, was jailed for 43 months for conspiracy to commit fraud by
false representation
*Victor Ngo, 30, of
Lowestoft Road, Portsmouth, was jailed for 43 months for conspiracy to commit
fraud by false representation and conspiracy to convert criminal property.
*Pinelopi
Chatzikonstantinou, 30, formerly of Highlands Road, Southsea, was fined £1,000
and a £100 victim surcharge for conspiracy to convert criminal property.
Adel Qadir, 35, of
Woofferton Road, Portsmouth, was jailed for 29 months for conspiracy to commit
*fraud by false
representation.
*Molade Fasuyi, 37, of
Methuen Road, Southsea, was jailed for two years for committing fraud by false
representation.
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