Photos: Nigerian couple tried to claim £3.8m from fraudulent claims over four years

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Thomas Adeola, with the help of an accomplice, attempted to claim £3.8m in benefits using more than 1,400 false identitiesAbimbola Abiola helped Thomas attempt to claim £3.8m in benefits using more than 1,400 false identities
Adeola Thomas & Abimbola Abiola

A Nigerian couple who tried to claim £3.8million in benefits scam using 1,400 stolen identities have been jailed for a total of almost 10 years.Adeola Thomas, 38, assisted by his partner, Abimbola Abiola, 34, managed to pocket £87,000 after submitting almost 2,500 handwritten applications for tax credits and benefits.The pair spent the money on designer clothing and electrical items including a 50-inch plasma television.


The fraud was discovered when benefits staff noticed the same address was being used for multiple claims.

Thomas, an illegal immigrant, was jailed for seven years while Abiola, also a Nigerian national with leave to remain in the UK, received two-and-a-half years.

Continue to see photos of how he(Adeola Thomas) was caught

When the claims were successful, the pair withdrew cash from acquaintances' bank accounts or from bogus post office accounts that Thomas, pictured, had set up

Thomas, pictured, was arrested outside a cash point at Upper Clacton Post Office in Hackney, east London last October where he was found to be in possession of 17 Post Office accountsThomas, pictured, was arrested outside a cash point at Upper Clacton Post Office in Hackney, east London last October where he was found to be in possession of 17 Post Office accounts