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Fraudsters led by Loughton man jailed

Picture: Bonaventure Chukwuka

A gang of fraudsters led by a man from Lougton has been jailed for a total of more than 43 years for their parts in the theft of millions of pounds from businesses and individuals in the UK and abroad.

They were convicted between 26 and 28 March for their roles in a large-scale “diversion fraud” scam using hacking software following a six-month trial, and sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on 2 May.

The court heard during the trial how Bonaventure Chukwuka from Lougthon led an organised criminal gang that targeted businesses and individuals by hacking into their email accounts, and stealing large sums of money.

The gang used computer malware to intercept and steal the log-in details of email accounts belonging to businesses and private individuals worldwide, with the intent of identifying high-value financial transactions.

They then intercepted emails about these transactions and sent spoof emails, duping the victims into paying the funds into alternative UK-based “mule” bank accounts.  These accounts were obtained and controlled by the fraudsters for this purpose instead of the intended recipient.

A total of 165 “mule” accounts, opened with fake identification documents or bought from unscrupulous account holders, were identified by detectives.

They were used to receive the proceeds of the diversion fraud, where the money was quickly transferred onto other accounts, some of which were untraceable.

The fraudsters also used the funds from mule accounts to buy and export thousands of pounds of baby milk to Nigeria, to launder the money.

One of the fraud victims was a small construction company with a small team of employees based in the south west of England. It was defrauded out of nearly £13,000 by the group in 2017 and had to close as a result.

The 10 convicted were:

41-year-old Bonaventure Sunday Chukwuka from Loughton was sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud by false representation and money laundering.  He was also found guilty of possession of a phone in prison sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment.

35-year-old Andrew Chike Chukwu from Buckhurst Hill was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

His brother, 27-year-old Emmanuel Chike Chukwuka from Loughton was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud but not for the conspiracy to money launder.  He was sentenced to two years and eight months’ imprisonment.

39-year-old brother Christian Chukwuka from Basildon was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for the conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

48-year Nadeem Abbasi from Wembley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert criminal property and was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment.

27-year Mansoor Zaman of no fixed address was sentenced to six years and nine months behind bars for fraud by false representation and conspiracy to conceal criminal property. 

32-year-old Queen Chukwuka from Loughton was sentenced to a community order after being found guilty of possessing criminal property.

Grace Plange Chukwu, 39-years-old, from Buckhurst Hill was given a conditional discharge for possessing criminal property.

Ionut Relu Muresan, 34-years-old from Chingford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to money launder and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment

Mohammed Rahman, 31-years-old from Peckham will be sentenced at a later date for fraud by false representation and conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

DC Chris Collins of the Falcon Fraud Squad said: “This gang of fraudsters were unscrupulous, organised and prolific, and over a period of four years stole millions of pounds from unsuspecting businesses and individuals, and lived an extremely comfortable life with the profits.

“The frauds were brazen, and this gang clearly thought they could continue with their criminal lifestyle without detection. However, arrests followed what was a complex investigation carried out diligently by the Met’s Falcon Fraud Squad, with hundreds of fraud reports being reviewed by detectives trawling through financial records.

“The evidence amassed by detectives and presented during the trial pointed towards a large-scale, planned fraud operation which involved payments arranged between two parties being successfully intercepted and diverted by this gang, into “mule” accounts set up for the purpose of receiving stolen funds.

“I hope this conviction sends a strong message to online fraudsters: we have the ways and means of tracing you and we will seek to bring you to justice.

“We would advise anyone conducting financial business by email to verify the bank account they are sending their money to, by contacting the intended recipient and taking precautions to ensure the money is going to the right place.”

Commander Karen Baxter, National Police Coordinator for Economic Crime at the City of London Police, said: “As the national lead force for fraud, Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau are responsible for ensuring that the UK can better identify, investigate and detect fraud and cyber crime.

“As a result of the reports made to Action Fraud, the Falcon Unit has been able to achieve justice for the hundreds of victims affected by these substantial crimes.

“This case is a shining example of law enforcement using a joined-up approach to combat fraud and cyber crime.”

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