Uber driver who conned blind singer for big tip is spared prison

Fraud: former Uber driver Cornel Mihai took advantage of Victoria Oruwari
Tony Palmer / BBC
Tony Palmer4 February 2020
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

An Uber driver who exploited a celebrated blind singer to award himself a five-star rating and a £20 tip has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Cornel Mihai, 32, took advantage of Victoria Oruwari’s disability as he drove her home from London Bridge station, persuading her to hand over her iPhone so that he could end the journey.

The 39-year-old soprano singer, a finalist on BBC talent show All Together Now who has performed at the Royal Opera House, only later realised the driver had added a large tip to the £51 journey fee and given himself a top rating on the app.

Mihai, who has been stripped of his minicab licence and dumped by Uber, denied wrongdoing but was convicted of fraud by false representation following a trial at Croydon magistrates court.

Uber driver Cornel Mihai
Tony Palmer

District Judge Susan Green yesterday handed the father-of-two a five-month prison sentence suspended for a year, and ordered him to complete 240 hours of community service. “You took advantage of a blind, vulnerable person who trusted you,” she said.

Mihai, of Dagenham, was ordered to pay Ms Oruwari £200 in compensation, plus the £20 tip, as well as £897 in court costs and fees, and he was banned from driving for the next six months.

Victoria Oruwari

The court heard Ms Oruwari hired the Uber on June 29 last year when she could not get a train home.

“He told me he could not end the trip on his app and asked if I could hand him my phone to end it,” she said. “I thought it was a little odd, but there was nothing in his behaviour to make me think I wasn’t safe.”

Ms Oruwari turned off an aid on the phone which reads out what is on the screen, and only later discovered his deception.

Uber refunded Ms Oruwari the fare and reported Mihai to the police. Judge Green agreed not to send Mihai to prison as he has a family to look after, but added he has “shown no remorse”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in