Accused in Gumtree fraud case ‘wanted to make his parents proud’ Old Bailey hears
1 November 2013
The Old Bailey jury in an alleged £1m jobs ‘scam’ involving fictitious jobs at Harrods heard counsel for one of the defendants urge the jury to find him not guilty.
Fri, 1 Nov 2013The Old Bailey jury in an alleged £1m jobs ‘scam' involving fictitious jobs at Harrods heard counsel for one of the defendants urge the jury to find him not guilty.
He argued that his client had ‘moved on’ from a previous offence of conspiracy to defraud to which he has pleaded guilty.
Defending counsel Alex Rose told the jury that although Babatunde Akinlabi has pleaded guilty with another man to an offence of conspiracy to defraud bank customers in 2008, and is awaiting sentence, since then his client “has moved on, wishes to better and improve himself to make his parents proud”.
During the fraud, which was said to have begun in August 2010, jobseekers who had applied for fictitious jobs at Harrods advertised on Gumtree lost up to £4.7k each after they downloaded phishing software. This asked them to provide their bank account details, which were then used by the gang to withdraw money.
Rose told the court that any suggestion by the prosecution that Akinlabi had “any direct involvement in the fraud was ridiculous”.
Rose said that after 2010, Akinlabi, a regular church-goer, “had turned the corner”, begun an MBA and had found a good job at computer and technology giant Apple.
The court heard Rose suggest that one of the other defendants in the case, Olalekan Awosile, had sought to dupe his client. “He [Akinlabi] is a world apart from his brother Ajibola Akinlabi and his friends [who are also defendants in this case],” said Rose. “I submit to you that he is telling the truth about the Gumtree fraud.”
Babatunde Akinlabi, Ajibola Akinlabi and three others, all from South London, deny conspiracy to defraud. The case continues.
He argued that his client had ‘moved on’ from a previous offence of conspiracy to defraud to which he has pleaded guilty.
Defending counsel Alex Rose told the jury that although Babatunde Akinlabi has pleaded guilty with another man to an offence of conspiracy to defraud bank customers in 2008, and is awaiting sentence, since then his client “has moved on, wishes to better and improve himself to make his parents proud”.
During the fraud, which was said to have begun in August 2010, jobseekers who had applied for fictitious jobs at Harrods advertised on Gumtree lost up to £4.7k each after they downloaded phishing software. This asked them to provide their bank account details, which were then used by the gang to withdraw money.
Rose told the court that any suggestion by the prosecution that Akinlabi had “any direct involvement in the fraud was ridiculous”.
Rose said that after 2010, Akinlabi, a regular church-goer, “had turned the corner”, begun an MBA and had found a good job at computer and technology giant Apple.
The court heard Rose suggest that one of the other defendants in the case, Olalekan Awosile, had sought to dupe his client. “He [Akinlabi] is a world apart from his brother Ajibola Akinlabi and his friends [who are also defendants in this case],” said Rose. “I submit to you that he is telling the truth about the Gumtree fraud.”
Babatunde Akinlabi, Ajibola Akinlabi and three others, all from South London, deny conspiracy to defraud. The case continues.
