Final member of 'Bank of Terror' gang jailed over bid to con elderly to fund ISIS

WEST END FINAL

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The final member of the so-called “Bank of Terror” gang who conned elderly pensioners out of their savings to fund Islamic State in Syria has been jailed for nine months.

The fraudsters posed as police officers or bank officials to trick victims into handing over thousands of pounds, believing they were being protected from crime.

In fact, their life savings were then plundered in an “industrial scale” scam, with money channelled to Islamic extremists fighting in Syria.

Victims as old as 94 fell for the fraud, which may have rake in millions of pounds, police fear. Ten men have already been jailed for their parts in the scam.

At the Old Bailey today, Warsame Sheikh, 30, bowed his head as he was sentenced to nine months behind bars for money laundering.

He had received £12,500 into his account from the savings of 73-year-old Elizabeth Curtis, who lost a total of £130,000 to the scam.

The fraud was a heartless ploy which had a devastated and lasting impact on the victims”, said Judge Anuja Dhir QC.

It involved fleecing the victims of large sums of money.

When the fraud started, the fraudsters contacted the victims and used other people’s accounts to accept payment from the victims – that money was then handed on to the fraudsters.”

She said Sheikh, who lives in White City, west London, must have realised that money coming into his account was from a criminal racket.

They must have been sure you would hand over Mrs Curtis’ money to them and would not alert the police”, added the judge.

She said many of the victims will never be reimbursed for the money that was stolen from them.

Among the men already jailed for the fraud was Mohamed Dahir, 23, of Finsbury Park, who was supported in an earlier bail application by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, his local MP. He was jailed for 21 months.

Also in the gang was Nathan Fagan-Gayle, 29, an X Factor finalist, who laundered thousands of pounds of the cash and was sentenced to 20 months behind bars.

One of the ringleaders, Makzhumi Abukar, 24, from Holloway, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.

Fahim Islam, 21, of Stepney, was jailed for six years and three months; Achmed Ahmed, 23, of Holloway, was jailed for four years and two months; Anrul Islam, 24, of Dagenham, was sentenced to 16 months; Sakaria Aden, 22, of Stoke Newington, was jailed for six-and-a-half years; Yasser Abukar, 24, of Holloway, was sentenced to six years.

Another member of the gang, Mohammed Youssfi, 38, of West Brompton, had earlier been jailed for 20 months for money, Mohammed Abokar, 28, of Islington, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

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