A Zimbabwean woman has been convicted of posing as a grief-stricken Grenfell Tower survivor in the UK. She claimed compensation, donat...
A Zimbabwean woman has been convicted of posing as a
grief-stricken Grenfell Tower survivor in the UK.
She claimed compensation, donations and hotel accommodation
intended for real victims. Joyce Msokeri, 47, pretended she had escaped the
west London fire in which her ‘husband’ died. She was actually single and living miles away at
the time.
Msokeri got a room at a Hilton hotel which she filled with
donations from well-wishers, and hatched an elaborate to claim insurance on her
fictitious partner’s death.
She was found guilty following a trial at Southwark Crown
Court of three counts of fraud against the Royal Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea (RBKC), the Hilton and charities respectively, and a further charge of
possessing a false document.
Msokeri was not in court to hear the jury’s verdicts as she
remains in hospital after being admitted on Monday for medical tests. Judge
Michael Grieve QC declined to sentence her in her absence, instead fixing a
sentencing date for 6 April.
He told jurors, who deliberated on the case for less than
two hours, Msokeri’s sentence would likely be via video link at the Old Bailey.
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