Man jailed after staff at Plymouth bank help uncover investment fraud worth over £500,000
An investigation led police to identify 17 victims across the UK
Last updated 12 hours ago
A man has been jailed after staff at a bank in Plymouth helped uncover an investment fraud scheme worth more than half a million pounds.
Police say the victims, often the elderly, were tricked into transferring large sums of money believing they were investing in shares, currencies, commodities, or cryptocurrency from a company purporting to be an international financial asset specialist.
Stephen Kpere-Daibo, 48, of Guildhouse Street in London, was sentenced to five years in prison at Southwark Crown Court today (6 May) after being convicted of money laundering.
The fraud came to light when Devon & Cornwall Police were alerted in August 2018 by concerned staff at a Plymouth bank.
The bank reported that an elderly customer was trying to transfer a large sum of money leading staff to believe he was the victim of fraud.
Police established that the Plymouth man was a victim of investment fraud involving a company called Bedside Asset Management.
An investigation called Operation Flycatcher revealed that the company did not exist and an examination of the account the man had paid into revealed a string of victims who had invested in Beside Asset management and other fraudulent investment companies.
Police said those behind the set up fake websites for each company and contacted victims through cold call phone calls.
Each victim was provided log in details to track their investment, and after making an initial profit they agreed to invest further.
Contact between the victims and fraudsters continued for months via phone calls and emails.
However, when they tried to withdraw money they were given a variety of excuses including having to wait 90 days, them not having invested enough, the money being tied up in China or needing further money to be paid to get it released.
Each victim paid their money into a variety of different accounts, none of which were in the name of the company they invested with.
The reporting of the suspicious activity in Plymouth resulted in 17 victims across the UK being identified, with the total fraud worth £582,085.38.
Stephen Kpere-Daibo was linked to the fraud after police found evidence of money transfers to him.
Financial investigation showed that Kpere-Daibo had received payments initially invested by the victims and spent the money on meals out, hotels, football tickets and paying credit card bills.
He was arrested at Heathrow Airport on 26 January 2019 and found in possession of a bank card for an account the victims had paid into.
An examination of electronic devices seized from Kpere-Daibo uncovered spreadsheets with several victim's names and details on them.
DI Dan Parkinson said: “Sadly this crime type is on the rise. Nationally criminals stole £879.8 million through investment fraud last year - an average of £2.4 million a day.
“As a force we are committed to working with partners, to identify and prosecute not only those who commit this type of crime, but also those, like Mr Kpere-Daibo, who launder the money on behalf of criminals. To help protect anyone considering investing, I would urge people to follow the below advice.”