Banking insiders involved with an organized crime group have been sentenced for stealing up to £1 million from customer accounts.
Members of the criminal group, including Tosin Aminoritse, Matthew Abass, and Emmanuel Chukwumeka Okafor, recruited bank employees Tyrone Ayodele Odesanya, Ishmeal Jack, and Hasses Khan to establish a complex network targeting numerous victims. The group unlawfully accessed customer accounts to misappropriate funds, using individuals posing as legitimate customers to visit bank branches, execute withdrawals, and transfer money to accounts controlled by the group.
On November 1 and 2, 2023, the group was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court. Aminoritse received six and a half years in prison, Abass was sentenced to five and a half years, and Okafor received four years. Bank staff Odesanya and Jack were sentenced to three years and nine months respectively, while Khan received an 18-month community order requiring 240 hours of unpaid work.
Detective Constable Andrew Hammond from the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, which investigated the case, commented: “Aminoritse, Abass, and Okafor callously orchestrated the theft of over £1 million from unsuspecting victims. They carefully worked together to defraud banks and their customers. Odesanya, Jack, and Khan abused the trust and responsibility associated with their positions as bank staff.”
The names of the banks involved have not been disclosed.