A Nigerian couple, Luciana and Femi Akanbi, have been jailed in the United Kingdom after investigators uncovered how stolen personal data of Transport for London employees was allegedly used to execute a tax rebate fraud scheme that cost the public purse more than £433,000.
A report by Kent Live on Thursday that the fraud, which ran between September 2021 and January 2022, was built on sensitive information belonging to at least 40 TfL workers, including passport details, National Insurance numbers and bank records, which were used to file 139 fake tax refund claims.
Court proceedings at Woolwich Crown Court revealed that Luciana Akanbi, 38, who worked in TfL’s human resources department, had access to the personal records of about 107 employees, which were later exploited for the scheme.
Prosecutors said the couple used the stolen details to create multiple self-assessment accounts and submit fraudulent claims to HM Revenue and Customs using at least 38 electronic devices operated from their home and other locations.
Although the total value of claims submitted was put at nearly £650,000, authorities confirmed that the actual loss amounted to more than £433,000.
The court also heard that the proceeds of the fraud were quickly laundered through a complex network, making recovery difficult for investigators.
Delivering judgment, Judge David Miller said the case represented the most severe data breach in the history of the transport authority.
