wmlro.com: couple had 1,400 children - kind of

Between them the pair fabricated more than 1,400 fictitious children, hijacked hundreds of identities and illegally claimed more than GBP1.2m in tax credits.

The pair had developed a scheme which saw Agdomar using his job as a civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions as a cover to illegally access genuine customer records to obtain personal information. This allowed the pair to hijack existing claims for tax credits, diverting the payments into a complex network of bank accounts.

Agdomar was also charged with abusing his position of trust within the civil service where he had accessed benefit systems to obtain information such as dates of birth and national insurance numbers to get information on genuine customer records. He is thought to have illegally accessed more than 2,500 customer accounts.

Both men appeared before Southwark Crown Court on 5 November 2008 where 35 year-old Ogunmekan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. He was later sentenced to 52 months in prison for the offences. In addition, Ogunmekan is also serving a default sentence of 30 months as he failed to repay GBP162,652.71 by 15 September 2009, as ordered by the court.

Agdomar pleaded not guilty at this hearing but changed his plea to guilty at a later hearing on 2 September 2009. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court and jailed for four and a half years.

Due Diligence Information:

1. Defendant details
John Brian Agdomar
2 Wilton Estate
Greenwood Road
Hackney
London
E8 1BD
Formerly of Flat 23 Mellington Court, Bethnal Road, Stoke Newington N16 7ST
DOB: 17 April 1967
Gender: Male
Occupation: Civil Servant

Olanekan Omatayo Ogunmekan
Flat 20 James Campbell House
Old Ford Road
Bethnal Green
London
E2 9QE
DOB: 9 September 1974
Gender: Male
Occupation: Cleaner

Charges

Count 1
* Conspiracy to commit fraud in relation to Tax Credits, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977

Charged: John Brian Agdomar and Olanekan Omatayo Ogunmekan conspired together and with others to submit false information to Tax Credits with a view to obtaining payments thereof

Count 3
* Misconduct in a Public Office, contrary to Common law

Charged: John Brian Agdomar wilfully misconducted himself in a public office in that he accessed information stored on the Tax Credit system without authorisation, so as to facilitate the commission of criminal offences by himself or others.

Count 5
* Fraud, contrary to Section 35 Tax Credits Act, 2002

Charged: Olanekan Omatayo Ogunmekan was knowingly concerned in fraudulent activity, namely the making of fraudulent tax credit claims in the name of Quincy Henrietta, with a view to obtaining payments thereof.

Information

- Olanekan Omatayo Ogunmekan was subject to a confiscation hearing on 24 July 2009 where he was ordered to repay GBP162,652.71.

- Olanekan Omatayo Ogunmekan is a Nigerian national and under instruction of the courts he is to be automatically deported back to Nigeria on his release and is banned for life from returning to the UK.

- John Brian Agdomar will be subject to confiscation proceedings under the proceeds of crime act 2002; the next hearing in this case will be in February 2010.