Legal News

A convicted fraudster will spend an additional two years in jail after failing to repay £100,000 obtained fraudulently from Southwark Council.

In 2014, Ibrahim Bundu was sentenced to four years in jail for abusing his position of trust as a homelessness worker.

The fraud was uncovered as a result of data from Operation Amberhill – a police database of fake identity documents.

It was discovered that, over a three year period, Ibrahim Bundu, his mother Marie Bundu, his two ex-wives Ada Kamara and Fatmata Koroma, and Koroma’s aunt, Haja Sesay – along with fellow defendants Aminata Lassayo, and Rebecca Quartey – fraudulently obtained council houses for themselves and for others.

Further checks carried out jointly with the Home Office’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement team and HMRC confirmed that the fraudulent applications had resulted in council homes being allocated to people who were not legally allowed to be in the country.

Bundu was ordered to repay £100,000 to Southwark Council, following a Proceeds of Crime investigation led by the council’s fraud team.

The order was granted on 21 July 2015 at Isleworth Crown Court, where it was agreed that repayments should be made from available assets, which can include selling property.

Bundu’s co-defendant and ex-wife, Fatmata Koroma, was also ordered to pay £15,000 – however, it was found she had made reasonable efforts to repay the sum.

A recent enforcement hearing heard, however, that Bundu had made “minimal effort” to repay the confiscation amount – paying only £1,600 towards the order and refusing to relinquish a property to cover the debt.

A default sentence of two years was handed to Bundu by the court.

After the hearing, Southwark Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Richard Livingstone, said:

“Anyone who thinks they can defraud the council and get away with it is sadly mistaken, as the Bundu case clearly shows.

“The council will stop at nothing to make fraudsters pay – and, indeed, repay – for their crimes.

”Mr Bundu’s refusal to make an honest contribution towards the confiscation order shows a lack of remorse for his deeds and justifies an extended prison sentence.

”Our impressive track record in fraud detection is testament to how seriously we take housing fraud, especially at a time when budgets are being squeezed and London’s housing crisis means that it’s absolutely critical that council homes are allocated to genuine applicants.”

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