
A Belvedere fraudster who laundered almost a million pounds in a year will spend more than six years behind bars.
Babatunde Adu, Ripley Road, was found to have a number of credit cars and fraudulent documents at his home during a police raid in October last year.
The raid was part of a week-long initiative to tackle card fraud, after intelligence suggested he had been using compromised cards to buy electronic goods with a value of up to £15,000 to sell on.
Police research revealed the 38-year-old had a bank account which had been used in 2014 to receive £50,000 from a romance fraud.
Further analysis revealed a £900,000 turnover in a bank account the previous year.
A driving licence with Adu’s picture, but another name, was also found at his address.
A trial at Inner London Crown Court found Adu guilty of disguising criminal property on Tuesday, July 4, having already pleaded guilty to converting criminal property, possession of a fraudulently obtained identification document and fraud by false representation.
He was sentenced to six years and four months in prison following the trial.
Detective Constable Damian Ward, of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), said: “Adu was a career fraudster who had falsely obtained money through a variety of means and I am delighted with this conviction.
“This sentence should send a message to any would-be fraudsters that you will be caught and punished.”
Intelligence about Adu was passed to the police’s Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit to investigate during a week of action against remote purchase fraud in October which saw the unit work with retailers, banks and the card schemes to take action against fraudsters. The DCPCU is sponsored by the banking industry and made up of officers from the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, bank investigators and support staff from UK Finance.
Established in April 2002, the DCPCU has since achieved an estimated £486 million in savings from reduced fraud activity. The DCPCU is a unique proactive police unit, with a national remit. It is sponsored by UK Finance.

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