LONDON – For over two weeks now British broadcaster ITV 1 has been running a documentary “Fraud Squad” exposing how a criminal gang of Zimbabweans pulled off the largest ever fake cheque fraud in the United Kingdom.
Last year in October Zimbabweans Onias Hove, 43 of Barnsley, and Charles Nyongo, 43 of Hunslet, Leeds, were sent to prison for a total of 9 years.
The two led an organised criminal gang responsible for stealing and fraudulently manufacturing bank cheques. Another ringleader Charles Kanyimo pleaded guilty to two offences of fraud and received a reduced sentence of 15 months.
But now fellow Zimbabweans in the UK are having to watch in shame as the ITV documentary reveals how the police “Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit” (DCPCU) seized £6.5 million worth of stolen and fake cheques.
The sophisticated gang, who came to the UK claiming they were fleeing persecution in Zimbabwe, intercepted completed cheques in the post, which they then altered, or photographed blank ones using smartphones to capture the legitimate details which they used to create fake cheques.
Originating in Scotland, the group’s criminality spread throughout the country to London. The gang’s victims were widespread, but included hospices, schools, golf clubs and the elderly.
The stolen or fake cheques would be cashed through ‘mule’ bank accounts – third party accounts which were usually held by students or more vulnerable members of society.
The DCPCU investigation, which began in April 2012, included officers from eight police forces across the country carrying out a number of coordinated raids.
During the property searches, officers seized almost 3000 stolen or fake cheques, the most ever recorded by the banking industry, along with the specialist ink and paper used in their manufacture.
Police also uncovered computers with cheque templates and ready-made identity kits for ‘mules’ to open false bank accounts. The recovered cheques had a total value of over £6.5 million.
Commander Steve Head said: “It is one of the most thoroughly rotten things that these people have done because they have come here claiming asylum, they’ve clearly taken advantage of the system, they’ve undermined a system that’s there to help people. Tens of thousands of genuine refugees come to this country needing asylum and this country will offer them that protection. This isn’t about them needing asylum, this is about sheer greed for greed’s sake.”
Perry Stokes, head of the DCPCU said; “We have dismantled a highly organised and professional fraud gang – one of the largest of its kind ever seen in the UK. As the ringleaders, Hove and Nyongo were ruthlessly indiscriminate in selecting their victims. Their knowledge of the bank cheque system was considerable, and our investigation revealed a series of fraud factories across the country.
We are delighted to have brought these criminals to justice and to have removed the threat they posed to British banks and their customers.”
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