A London granddad took out mobile phone contracts at an 02 store with false Nigerian passports to swindle tens of thousands of pounds worth of tech.
Abideeni Tajudeen Adegbite, 54, travelled from London to South Wales where he used fraudulent ID documents to take out contracts for Apple Watches and iPhones in a number of phone shops in Newport, Chepstow and Bridgend, WalesOnline reports.
In the wake of two successful purchases, a shop employee informed his manager about the big purchases. When suspicion was raised, it was discovered that a similar incident had occurred in another store.
The defendant was finally caught when he attempted to make another purchase at a third shop, but the manager called the police and he was arrested.
At a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, Adegbite confessed to visiting the 02 shop in Newport Retail Park on December 13 last year to inquire about a tablet he wanted to buy for his daughter.
To do this, he took out contacts for two iPhone 13s and an Apple Watch, and used a Nigerian passport in the name of Bruce Thomas, with an address in Chepstow and the defendant’s photo. A bank card with the same name was also produced, said prosecutor Sophie Keegan.
In the morning of December 14, Adegbite went to the 02 store in Chepstow with a Nigerian passport in the name of Christopher Davidson, whose address was in Caldicott, and made the same purchase.
Ms Keegan said one of the employees was quite pleased with what had happened and messaged a colleague at another shop. However, she was aware of another similar purchase that had taken place.
Adegbite went to the McArthurGlen store on December 15 and showed a Nigerian passport in the name of David Williams and a credit card in the same name, but the manager recognized the fraud and called the police.
Approximately £40,200 was taken from 02 stores.
During his interview, the defendant, of Southwark’s Daniels Road, did not respond. He later pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, possession of false instruments for use of fraud, possession of false ID documents.
The court heard Adegbite had seven previous convictions including fraud, possession of ID documents with intent to fraud, and theft.
Defence barrister Tom Roberts said his client wouldn’t have received all of the money from the stolen goods and would have been given less than £5,000. He said the defendant had been in the UK since the age of 21, but his fraudulent behaviour began in 2014 after a change in immigration status meant he was no longer allowed to work in the UK.
He also said was a father of five children and a grandfather to three children who he helped to care for.
Sentencing Judge Timothy Petts said: “You have developed a lifestyle of committing fraudulent offences. You went to three different shops to buy high-value items and used false passports and bank cards.
“You were prepared to travel considerable distances to try committing fraud.”
Adegbite was jailed for three years and 10 months.
He will be deported at the end of his sentence. Only immediate custody will do.”
