Two Ghanaian Busted in London For Bank & Credit Card Fraud
Stephen Nyako
Teenager obsessed with designer labels given a Louis Vuitton handbag birthday cake after helping steal £150,000 in bank
- Aamna Aliani, 18, from London, went on incredible spending spree
- With two others, she hijacked details of 22 Lloyds TSB customers
- They then blew tens of thousands of pounds in Mayfair shops
PUBLISHED:18:15, 15 March 2013| UPDATED:18:24, 15 March 2013
A teenager obsessed with designer labels was given a birthday cake in the shape of a Louis Vuitton handbag after she helped steal £150,000 from a string of bank accounts, a court heard.
Aamna Aliani, 18, bought Christian Louboutin shoes, Dolce & Gabbana clothes and dozens of handbags on an incredible spending spree.
The teenager, together with accomplices Derrick Mensah, 20, and David Kwarteng, 27, hijacked confidential credit and debit card details from 22 Lloyds TSB customers before they hit the shops.
Jailed: Aamna Aliana (left) was one of a trio of fraudsters who splashed out on a wardrobe-full of designer clothing after siphoning off almost £150,000 from a string of bank accounts. Aamna Aliana, 18, is also pictured with Derek Mensah, 20, outside Southwark Crown Court
Police found this picture of Aamna Aliani's birthday cake, in the shape of a Louis Vuitton bag, on a mobile phone
Thousands of pounds in cash were also withdrawn from bank branches in Hammersmith, west London; High Road and Cranbrook Road in Ilford, Essex; East Gate, Harlow; Wood Green, north London; and Knightsbridge, southwest London.
Aliani also used the cash to purchase a gym membership from Fitness First for £534 while Mensah bought £200 gift vouchers from John Lewis, Southwark Crown Court heard.
More...
- Neighbour who offered to help blind pensioner with his weekly shopping stole £6,000 from his bank account
- The smiling newlyweds who weren't: Sham marriage gang recruited in a nail salon caught after the 'bride's' real boyfriend revealed scam to police following row on holiday paid for with the proceeds
The two month-long scam unravelled on May 14, 2011, when police became suspicious after spotting Kwatreng waiting in a BMW for Aliani, while she was shopping at Louis Vuitton in central London's Conduit Street.
Aliani had purchased two designer bags worth £1,130 and also had a further £860 in cash on her.
Five envelopes in the BMW were stuffed full with a total of £12,800 while the car boot was also heaving with trendy clothing.
Prosecutor Nicholas Mather said the total loss was in the region of £144,000.
(Left) A bag of cash recovered by police and (right) a pair of expensive Christian Louboutin shoes bought with cash stolen from a string of bank accounts
A large envelope with large quantity of cash stolen by the trio of fraudsters
The collection of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana designer bags Aamna Aliani, 18, bought
'A memory stick was found on Kwatreng which was full of financial information relating to a number of different bank accounts.
'The information included dates of birth and addresses and confidential data such as telephone banking passwords.
'Someone has had access using the information on the memory stick to 22 individuals' bank accounts.
'The method used is identical - the bank would be telephoned and the (account holder's) address would be changed to one of two addresses in Harlow, Essex.
'The bank would then be informed that the card was damaged and a new card sent out to the false address.
David Kwarteng (left), 27, of Canonbury, north London admitted fraud, two counts of possessing articles for use in fraud and possession of criminal property and (right) Derrick Mensah, 20, of Stoke Newington, north London, admitted four counts of fraud
Gucci trainers bought with cash stolen by Aamna Aliani, 18, Derrick Mensah, 20, and David Kwarteng, 27
Aamna Aliana, 18, at Southwark Crown Court where she admitted 12 counts of fraud and possession of criminal property
'The total loss from compromised cards, whoever was responsible, whether it was one of the defendants or others, is something in the region of £144,000.
'There is also the enormous inconvenience to the card holders and the banks.'
When police arrested the gang they found pictures of designer clothes, wads of cash and the handbag birthday cake which had been taken on their mobile phones.
Aliani, who was just 16 at the time of the scam, and Mensah were each sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 240 hours unpaid work.
Kwarteng, who has previous convictions including handling stolen goods, was immediately jailed for one year. Relatives in the public gallery wept as the sentence was passed.
Mr Justice Nicol said: 'All three of you were involved in the use of replacement bank cards which the banks had been talked into sending to a false address.
'The cards were then used to withdraw cash or buy expensive items of clothing.'
Addressing Kwatreng, the judge said: 'Your offending was part of a professional operation but it was only over two days.
'The offence of possessing criminal property is intended to discourage the criminal activity which generates such property.'
Mr Justice Nicol told Aliani: 'Your role was the most serious of the three defendants and you used the cards most extensively, in total spending £22,700.
'It's clear you have had some difficulties in your family background and the lure of the lifestyle which this offending held or appeared to promise obviously proved to be too much.'
James McCrindell, for Aliani, said: 'This is someone who can be punished in the community. The focus can still be in respect of rehabilitation rather than sentence.
'At the start of her criminal conduct she was just 16, turning 17 when she was arrested. She is now 18 and has looked back on her conduct and realises she went the wrong way.
'She recognises and accepts responsibility for her offending and says she only has herself to blame. She is a good young person who, notwithstanding disadvantages, has always tried to do the right thing.'
Jeremy Ornstin, defending Kwatreng, said grew up in a 'challenging environment' but 'against the odds' is now embarking on a degree at the University of Hertfordshire.
Ray Hedlam, for Mensah, urged the judge to take a merciful course.
Aliani, of south Tottenham, north London, admitted 12 counts of fraud and possession of criminal property.
Mensah, of Newington Green, Stoke Newington, north London, admitted four counts of fraud.
Kwatreng, of Canonbury, north London admitted fraud, two counts of possessing articles for use in fraud and possession of criminal property.
Up to 60,000 British savers face losing thousands each after...
Mother slams council chiefs for allowing her troubled...
Dog owner took pictures of her King Charles spaniel being...
Lonely John Cleese flees Monaco... and flogs all Wife No 4's...
Fears over Rio Olympics after Sir Steve Redgrave and wife...
'You can't work here, you'll upset the atheists': What hotel...
'I’ve known you were gay since you were six,...
Pryce swaps Holloway for a Kent mansion: Huhne's ex-wife...
Daughter of ITN reporter shot dead in Iraq comes face to...
Welsh-born beauty who married into Swedish royal family...
'Anyone got a gun? Bang!': Chilling message by sick internet...
SAS to use bigger bullets to kill enemy outright after...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294005/Teenager-obsessed-designer-labels-given-Louis-Vuitton-handbag-birthday-cake-helping-steal-150-000-bank.html#ixzz2NnHB6MAV
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Kwaku A. Danso
Steve,
The Rawlings generation, no offense to the very rare entrepreneurial ones, simply want to reap where they have not sowed.
I have never seen such a generation like that! Selfish, greedy and fast talking! You should see some of the Legon boys!
Crooked means to earn their fast buck! I had a chance to work with some in 2008, and I wish Fred will have his chance and report back to us. It is easy to start a company in America and hire people, ten times easier than in Ghana even though some think people are looking for jobs!
The generation behind will see less of the Science and Engineering and more of those trying to get into Banking and Finance and Economics, because that is where the chances are for making money in Ghana, as the kids see these phony capitalists whose output or products are shady at best, siding with political parties in order to earn gargantuan gains.
Sad for a nation Kwame Nkrumah and others sacrificed their lives to bring about. After all of them, the big 6, could have fronted the Foreign firms and become rich like Sam Johan did helping the British control the mining enterprise and finally taking over the full Ashanti Gold.
Tweaaaa!!
K. Danso
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GHANA LEADERSHIP FORUM" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to GhanaLeadershipF...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.