UK jail for Zimbabwean identity fraud woman

UK jail for Zimbabwean identity fraud woman

• Busted: register of rogue dealers

• Zim woman stabbed, racially abused in UK

• Zimbabwean jailed for life in UK

• Student knifed to death on Christmas Day in Bradford

• Woman died after bungled self-abortion

• 4 years for scalding hubby with boiling cooking oil

• Zim man scalded with hot cooking oil in Luton

• Zim student in UK credit card fraud

By Staff Reporter

A ZIMBABWEAN woman took on a fake identity to get a job as a care worker to buy more than £34,000 worth of goods that she sent back to her home country, a court heard.

Priscilla Kinyabo paid for her deception with a two-year jail sentence when she appeared before the city's crown court Wednesday.

The 54-year-old, who arrived in the UK with her teenage daughter on a six-month visa in 1999 and was subsequently denied asylum, took on a false identity to get a job as a carer in 2001 and began looking after 88-year-old disabled Vera Muspratt in the city, the court was told.

During her four years in the post Kinyabo posed as the elderly woman to obtain credit, opened accounts in her name and had many of the items of electrical and household goods she was ordering delivered to her address.

When Kinyabo left her job in June, Muspratt's son went to police after finding correspondence from credit card and mail order companies, and accounts opened in his mother's name.

Kinyabo, who paid £3,000 to have containers of her ill-gotten gains shipped to Zimbabwe, was arrested at the airport as she prepared to return to her country with her daughter.

She pleaded guilty to eight charges of obtaining property and services by deception and two involving the use of a false identity to gain employment. She also asked for 17 other similar offences to be taken into consideration.

The court heard there was no suggestion the quality of care Kinyabo gave to Muspratt was lacking and she was not charged with stealing from the pensioner but using her identity to gain credit for property she was unable to pay for.

Angela Rafferty, in mitigation, said Kinyabo had come to England after losing her home in Harare under the Mugabe regime and the most important focus of her life was her 18-year-old daughter's education.

The girl had done very well at school here, she said.

As breadwinner for her family in Zimbabwe, it was Kinyabo's responsibility to send money and goods home.

None of the items she bought on credit has been recovered - Evening News
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com