Bankrupt Banker: east London

Remi Fakorede, used a string of "phantom" families to "systemically" rake in the fortune.

Remi Fakorede, 46, used a string of "phantom" families to "systemically" rake in the fortune. in evidence she claimed the three digits had fallen off magically and proved she had been forced into the five-year fiddle by a "voodoo" curse on her and her family. She told London's Snaresbrook Crown Court she was warned that unless she co-operated and allowed her bank account to be "hijacked", she would suffer the same fate. The wealthy hairdresser's witness box antics caused uproar in court, left one juror in tears and prompted the "horrified" judge to adjourn the case for the rest of the day. Police were later called to London's Snaresbrook Crown Court and took a statement from the Nigerian-born defendant. Social Services and the Child Protection Agency were also contacted. DNA test results were then ordered to determine who the body parts belonged to, although the court was told the defendant's three-year-old daughter lost part of her hand after suffering renal problems and developing gangrene. Judge Jacqueline Beech branded her witness box antics "utterly disgraceful" and said they were simply "calculated to manipulate this court". Fakorede, from Hackney, east London, was convicted of one count of fraud between August 1, 2002 and June 26 last year after the jury rejected her grisly defence. One of her daughters, 21-year-old Denise Shofolawe-Coker, also from Hackney, was found guilty of laundering £71,000 of the stolen money, and was jailed for a year. Passing sentence the judge, who said the fingers incident was the most "horrific" she had experienced, told Fakorede she had been responsible for a "wholesale assault on the benefit system". Rejecting a defence plea for a suspended sentence, she told the defendant from the moment the tax credit benefit was introduced she was "involved in fraudulent claims". Among other things she hid both her £40,000-a-year salary and her partner's existence to fool the authorities. "If that were not bad enough you also became involved with others in making other false claims." Some had been "false from their inception" while other, genuine claims were "hijacked by you and your gang". The judge said while there was no direct evidence where the money had gone, Fakorede had spoken in evidence both of "property in Nigeria" and her "love of jewellery". "This was a sophisticated fraud...which resulted in the Inland Revenue being defrauded to the tune of nearly £1 million. I am satisfied that you were either the lynchpin in this fraud or, at least, one of the main conspirators." She told Fakorede if, as the defendant believed, her father died from shock after learning about her "massive and sustained" dishonesty, she only had herself to blame. "I wonder what you expected to be the result upon your family of your criminality. "I find you to be a thoroughly dishonest woman on the evidence before the court. Also your life is surrounded by a web of financial deception and dishonesty which not only resulted in this case but the obtaining of two local authority houses in different boroughs." The judge continued: "Your conduct in court was nothing more than a bare-faced attempt to manipulate the jury. "Your evidence...was utterly unbelievable with your heavy reliance on voodoo, the most shocking aspect of your conduct being your assertion that your mother was murdered by having been put under a voodoo-type spell. "And the actual production of you in court of the fingers of a child during your evidence, which you said were your daughter's in order to establish that voodoo had either been perpetrated upon you or was likely to be perpetrated on you in the future. "I found your conduct in that regard to be utterly disgraceful and entirely calculated to manipulate this court," said the judge. She also condemned the ease with which Fakorede had been able to carry out the fraud. "I would like to express concern about a benefits system that allows any bank account irrespective of the identity of the holder to receive payments on other people's claims. It seems to me that such a system is an easy target for organised criminal gangs. It is the opinion of this court that the system should be reviewed." A confiscation hearing will be held later. Outside court a Revenue and Customs spokeswoman welcomed the sentences for "what was a systematic attack on the tax credit system". "They reinforce HMRC's message that those who believe they can cheat the system without a second thought should think again. This was not a victimless crime but a calculated fraud involving a significant amount of money." Jurors heard Fakorede used combinations of her names to create 20 phantom families with children - often disabled twins - to make 39 false tax credit claims. Stolen national insurance numbers were also used. More than half the £925,933 defrauded passed through various accounts under her control, while £71,000 of that was laundered through her daughter's. While pocketing the massive payouts with one hand, she was using the other to bank income from her hairdressing salon and rental from the two council house peroperties. Oscar Del Fabbro, prosecuting, said: "The investigations revealed various characteristics which are often contained in claims of this type - fictitious children who are often twins or disabled, and apparently the claimant is self-employed." Authorities discovered what she had been doing when she tried to claim childcare as well. Not only was her handwriting linked to a large number of claim forms but she was also taped calling a helpline to demand benefits. When all payments were eventually halted, there was not a single complaint from any of the so-called recipients. During the first day of her evidence, Fakorede, who holds joint British and Nigerian nationality, told the court her mother died a few months earlier. The following day she resumed her evidence and explained how her mother had been taken from her home and "murdered". The culprits, or "forces of darkness", had then put a powerful "voodoo" curse on her and her family. The defendant, who also claimed an "Auntie Marian" had hijacked both her and her daughter's identities during the fraud, said the spell forced them into allowing their accounts to be used to receive some of the money. She said the magic employed was so strong it caused her three-year-old daughter to lose three fingers. At that point she opened her handbag, pulled out the tissue-wrapped fingers and said she had been warned if she did not do as she was told the same thing would happen to her . At the time the judge said: "I have never experienced anything as horrific as this." Neither had any of her fellow judges with whom she discussed the incident. Andrea Ferguson, defending Fakorede, told the court that although she could not definitively say the DNA test confirmed the fingers belonged to her client's daughter, Ilford police had decided not to prosecute over the fingers and said she was "welcome" to collect them at any time. That suggested everything "was in order". The barrister added there was no evidence her client, who had been in "considerable debt" when arrested, had enjoyed a "lavish lifestyle". "There was no evidence of fast cars. There was no evidence of personal expenditure over and above what one would expect from a normal family."

Remi Fakorede, used a string of "phantom" families to "systemically" rake in the fortune.

Remi Fakorede, 46, used a string of "phantom" families to "systemically" rake in the fortune. in evidence she claimed t...