Nigerian couple has been arrested in the UK for securing £87,000 from fraudulent claims totalling £3.8million over four years.
Adeola Thomas, 38, and his partner, Abimbola Abiola, 34, managed to pocket £87,000 after using 1,400 stolen identities to complete 2,495 handwritten tax and benefits claims forms, the
pair spent the money on designer clothing and electrical items including
a 50-inch plasma television.
The fraud was discovered when benefits
staff at HM Revenue & Customs noticed they had received multiple tax
credit claims from the same addresses. Subsequently, an investigation
was launched.
Thomas’ hand-written application forms
were analysed, computer records were checked, and hours of recorded
calls to the Tax Credit Helpline were listened to and a surveillance
operation was carried out. The HRMC investigators viewed CCTV footage
showing activity outside various North London Post Office ATMs.
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