Fraudsters behind £12m UK-wide scam jailed
- Published
Ten conspirators were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court
Fraudsters who conned NHS hospitals, councils and a government out of more than £12m have been sentenced.
Ten conspirators were given sentences at Leicester Crown Court of up to 10 years in prison.
In each case forged letters, emails or faxes were sent to the 22 targeted organisations, pretending to be from a legitimate firm already carrying out contract works.
The biggest victim was the Guernsey government, which lost £2.6m.
In one case, a £1.28m payment to build a mental health unit at Lincoln's St George's Hospital was diverted when NHS trust staff failed to check the new bank details supplied.
It was only when an employee of the building firm Costain saw the bogus letter, with its logo out of place, a fake reference number and signatures, that the alarm was raised.
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust then called in the police at the end of 2011, sparking a lengthy investigation, led by Lincolnshire Police with support from NHS Protect.
After sentencing on 23 June, Det Sgt Mike Billam, said: "I am pleased to say that with the assistance of law enforcement in Dubai, Poland and other countries, this investigation has got to the heart of this conspiracy and has disabled what was clearly an international organised crime group."
'Sophisticated'
The fraudsters took advantage of the fact that public sector contracts were freely available to see, under financial transparency rules.
In sentencing, Judge Philip Head said: "This was a sophisticated and widespread fraud in its conception and execution", adding, "these bodies were selected because it was hoped their accounting processes would be vulnerable."
"The loss falls necessarily on those who are not able to pay it, ultimately the members of the public whose taxes fund these bodies," he said.
However, what the judge called the "prime-mover", identified in court as Nigerian national Bayo Awonorin, was still at large, having failed to answer to police bail.
Two other men, John Woodhatch, then 56, and Adrian Taylor, 44, have already been jailed for a total of 11 years at Southwark Crown Court in September 2015, for money laundering and acquiring criminal property.
Among the conspirators was a former nightclub toiletries' seller, company directors and a newsagent.
Those sentenced
The sentences were given on 23 June, but reporting restrictions were in place at the time.
Stephen Tyndale, 47, of Albany Road, Southwark, London, was jailed for 10 years each, for conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder money, to run concurrently
Asif Habib, 53, of Al Barsha, Dubai, 40 months for conspiracy to launder money
Imitiaz Khoda, 44, of Dallas Road, Lancaster, 54 months for conspiracy to launder money
Abdul Naeem, 36, of Lineholt Close, Redditch, Worcestershire 67 months for conspiracy to launder money
Mohammed Nadeem, 33, also of Redditch, 67 months for conspiracy to launder money
Oghogho Ehanire, 42, of Brackenbury Road, Preston, Lancashire, 12 months suspended for two years for laundering
Yagnesh Patel, 46, of Rookery Road, Staines, Surrey; 15 months, suspended for two years for laundering
Zaheed Muhammed, 48, of Tinto Road, Glasgow; 21 months, suspended for two years for laundering
Abdul Ghaffar, 68, of Lineholt Close, Redditch; 22 weeks, suspended for two years for laundering
Tariq Khan, 35, of Meadway, Ilford, Essex, was jailed for eight months and ordered to repay £20,000 to the Lincolnshire NHS trust after admitting perverting the course of justice by supplying false documents to police
An 11th person, Monica Thomson, 40, of Ivy Way, Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, will be sentenced for her part in the conspiracy next month.
The targets
States of Guernsey Government was defrauded of the largest single amount, £2.6m, and the cash funnelled into seven separate accounts
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust lost £1.28m, which was laundered through eight separate bank accounts
The Royal College of Art paid out £1.26m but all the money was recovered
Royal Free Hampstead Hospital paid out £1.43m to the fraudsters, but the cash was returned
St Paul's School, in Barnes, Middlesex, was cheated out of £937,015, but all money was recovered
Kingston University transferred £1.75 million, however the money was returned
North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust was defrauded of £896,700, with £536,966 was recovered
Goodmans Logistics, in Solihull, West Midlands, was targeted and paid £1.052m, which ended up being laundered by crooks through 15 separate accounts: £255,000 was recovered
Dundee City Council was asked for £396,977, but the fraud was identified shortly afterwards and the cash recovered
Falkirk Council was targeted but the request was ignored
Middlesbrough Council paid out £236,477, although £197,718 was recovered
Derby University paid out £314,438, with £173,818 of the money later recovered by the bank
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust ignored the fraudulent request
Galliford Try PLC were defrauded of £187,703, of which £12,569 was recovered
Freebridge Community Housing in Norfolk, received a fraudulent request by fax, but ignored it
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were targeted but did not respond
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust, paid £261,260. All the money was lost
Greenfield Housing Association ignored the fake bank account details and paid nothing
Clackmannanshire Council in Scotland ignored the letter it received from fraudsters
Derwent Valley Holdings PLC was targeted but ignored the bogus letter it received
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust also ignored the bogus email they received
Plymouth University was targeted but never responded to the fake communication