£1,3m UK bank fraud Zimbabweans jailed

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Posted to the web: 29/05/2009 18:21:21
THREE Zimbabwean men have been jailed for a total of 11 years for their part in a million pound bank fraud involving the banking and insurance group, HBOS.

Naison Mubaiwa, 34, of Leeds and Paddington Muzondiwa, 25, of Swindon, were sentenced to three-and-a-half years and two years respectively at Leeds Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud in connection with the theft of high value cheques between January 2007 and August 2008.

Mudavanhu Diza, 47, of Leeds was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to defraud in March. He was sent to prison for five years.

All three are Zimbabwean nationals failed asylum seekers.

Prosecutor Timothy Capstick said the ringleader of the fraud had gone on the run and was being hunted by police.

Four other men have been dealt with by police for their part in the scam and another 10 are on police bail.

The fraud involved cheque books, cards and other banking documents being intercepted at a branch of the bank in Leeds.

The stolen cheques were altered and deposited into bank accounts set up by those involved. The cash was then later withdrawn.

Capstick said the scale of loss amounted to £1.3 million.

Sentencing the trio, Judge Kerry MacGill said: "You were all in this to make money and knew that potentially large sums of money would be involved. The face value of the cheques was well over £1 million.

"You are all from Zimbabwe and there has to be a link. Whether you came here to better yourselves because of what the UK could offer you, what the UK does not provide for you is to go on and commit crime.

"This was fraud on a grand scale."

The men were rounded up in dawn raids at 30 addresses across England last year in a police operation codenamed Operation Illmington. The operation, launched by West Yorkshire Police in 2007, saw the force’s Economic Crime Unit, Operations Support Division, the Organised Crime Group and local Neighbourhood Policing Teams all working together.

On May 14, Charles Kanyimo, 35, of Wakefield was sentenced to 3-years imprisonment at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court after he earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud in December 2008 and January 2009.

Dumisani Nyamyaro, 31, of Barnsley, pleaded guilty on March 10 to conspiracy to defraud and is due to be sentenced next Tuesday.

Police say the investigation is still ongoing.

Following the sentencing, Detective Chief Superintendent Howard Crowther of West Yorkshire Police said: “We accept the sentences passed today and hope they serve as a warning to other would-be fraudsters who think they can get away with stealing cash.

“We will not standby and allow people to live off ill-gotten gains at the expense of others. Operations such as these demonstrate the commitment of West Yorkshire Police in bringing fraudsters to justice.”
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