Ringleader George Abrue, a Nigerian immigrant to the UK, was sentenced to five years behind bars for his role in the multi-million pound fraud and money laundering scheme.
According to the City of London police, Abrue, 29, his wife, Sarah Robson, 28, and mother-in-law Jocelyn Cowper, 57, hired unlicensed brokers who used aggressive sales tactics to sell shares in false start up companies about to float on the stock market. The alleged start-ups dealt in mineral and bio fuels.
To legitimize their operation, Abrue and his cohorts acquired UK phone numbers and created bogus companies, opening up bank accounts using addresses of Abrue’s unsuspecting UK neighbors.
Professional-looking websites and brochures produced in Sweden were created to convince people to invest. Many of the victims were elderly and vulnerable.Abrue also recruited former colleagues from the phone sales industry to work for him. The recruits were trained in Malaga, Spain and operated from the city of Majorca. Here, they pressurized people over the phone into buying shares in non-existent companies such as Bio-Fuel Solutions Corporation and New Power Technology.
The unsuspecting victims were sent ‘bogus’ share certificates, produced in a Sunderland back-street office run by Scotty Henderson, 31 - one of Abrue main partners - to provide evidence of their investments and to encourage them to make further payouts.
The money obtained from these fraudulent deals was laundered through Swedish and Italian bank accounts to fund extravagant lifestyles for Abrue and his associates.
Abrue used his ill-gotten gains to buy such luxury cars as a Ferrari, Bentley and Maserati, which were housed in Spain. The gang also held parties for hundreds of people in top hotels in Barcelona.
.jpg)
The scammers came under scrutiny by the UK police in August 2009 when victims began to complain to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) after losing money from the cold-call solicitations.In December 2009, the City of London Police led a national operation called Operation Soundwave, in collaboration with Spanish law enforcement that saw 11 people arrested in Northumbria and three others in Manchester, Derbyshire and London. Abrue was detained in Sweden and was later extradited back to the UK several months to be charged.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Clark of the City of London Police said: "George Abrue was a bright and articulate man, but he was also an unscrupulous and callous coward. He showed no sentiment in his crime, and clearly thought nothing of the impact his fraud had on its victims.”Another Nigerian, Babatunde Aluko was sentenced to 3 yrs and 9 months imprisonment on one count of conspiracy to defraud, and another for money laundering.
http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/uk-court-convicts-nigerian-led-phony-stock-selling-fraudsters