Investigators discovered that thousands of pounds were going through the couple’s bank accounts. (Representative)
London:
Over a million pounds of assets have been recovered by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) following a civil investigation into a Nigerian fraudster and his longtime British Indian partner, both of whom led extravagant lifestyles despite their combined annual declared income not exceeding £ 49,000.
Ayodele Oluseye Odewale, also known as Ayodele Balogun, 42, and her 21-year-old partner – 40-year-old Londoner Sara Bharat Yadav, were ordered to deliver 1,011,431 pounds to the NCA before the High Court under the UK proceeds of crime law. the week.
“Ayodele Oluseye Odewale and Sara Bharat Yadav have had extravagant lifestyles funded by the theft of the identity of law-abiding and law-abiding citizens. We have recovered their assets so that they see no benefit from their illegal activity”, said Andy Lewis, chief of asset denial at the NCA. .
“We are delighted that our commitment to this investigation has paid off, having worked closely with partners, including the Metropolitan Police and the Southeast Regional Organized Crime Unit. We will continue our work to identify those who are linked to economic crime and to remove their illicit assets from them. ,” he said.
NCA investigators found that the couple had hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling passing through their bank accounts each year, although Ayodele Oluseye Odewale had had no legitimate employment income since leaving prison in 2005, and well beyond Sara Bharat Yadav’s executive salary.
According to the NCA, Ayodele Oluseye Odewale is a fraudster convicted of numerous dishonesty offenses between 1998 and 2016 and has made millions of his scams.
He usually targeted people living in wealthy neighborhoods, looking for their contact details in public registers and fraudulently applying for credit cards on their behalf, which he used to withdraw money.
Sara Bharat Yadav, director of operations at Imperial College London, and Ayodele Oluseye Odewale also bought properties in London and Liverpool respectively, with large deposits involved in each.
These properties were then sold as part of what the NCA believed was an attempt to launder the proceeds of criminal activity from Ayodele Oluseye Odewale.
In her judgment, Justice Maura McGowan considered that the evidence of the NCA was “detailed, convincing and useful”.
The British court learned how the couple had sent their three children to a private school, which costs £ 37,000 a year, and also enjoyed frequent luxury vacations in India, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Cape Verde and Turkey.
NCA said it had recovered 797,431 pounds from the couple’s bank accounts, three Patek Philippe brand watches worth 199,000 pounds and a private car license plate worth 15,000 pounds.
Ben Russell, deputy director of the National Economic Crime Center, said: “Fraud is causing real harm to people across the UK and we are determined to use all our powers, including civil recovery, to disrupt criminals and take money and assets from their hands.
“The National Economic Crime Center has a unique role to play in coordinating the response to economic crime, bringing together the strength of our public and private sector partners.”
The High Court on Tuesday ordered that one of the watches and £ 140,759 that could be attributed to two specific frauds be turned over to NatWest Bank to replace the money used to compensate two of their customers.
Ayodele Oluseye Odewale also allegedly usurped the identity of some of his victims during telephone calls to their banks, ordered and intercepted replacement debit cards, which he then used to buy high-value items such as watches .
These watches were then exchanged and sold, the product being laundered in bank accounts belonging to Ayodele Oluseye Odewale and Sara Bharat Yadav.
Even when Ayodele Oluseye Odewale fled the UK in 2016, the couple continued to enjoy an extravagant lifestyle. The rent for Sara Bharat Yadav’s London home alone amounts to almost £ 42,000 a year, more than her annual income.
For the past three years, they have owned expensive cars, including a Porsche Carrera, two Mercedes and Sara Bharat Yadav, currently driving an Audi RS4 which, when new, is worth around £ 60,000.
Sara Bharat Yadav, who remained in the United Kingdom when Ayodele Oluseye Odewale left for Nigeria, was also tried by judge McGowan as knowingly taking advantage of assets acquired through illegal conduct.
The judge said that Sara Bharat Yadav “had dishonestly chosen to turn a blind eye to the illegitimacy of these funds” and appreciated the luxury it offered by noting, for example, the gold Rolex she wore audience.
NCA investigators described one of Ayodele Oluseye Odewale’s explanations that he had made “hundreds of thousands of pounds” to finance his lifestyle in a betting shop, with the odd fixed terminals being “inherently little likely “.
Ayodele Oluseye Odewale testified before the High Court by video from Nigeria because he is under deportation order and cannot return to the United Kingdom. The judge noted that he showed “little concern for the victims of the fraud” and proposed “naked denials (often angry)” to questions put to him by counsel for the ANC.
