A Zimbabwean journalist, Clemence Marijeni has been jailed in the UK over a £450,000 in maternity payments fraud. Marijeni was at the ...
A Zimbabwean journalist, Clemence Marijeni has been jailed
in the UK over a £450,000 in maternity payments fraud.
Marijeni was at the centre of a 12-person fraud ring who
claimed taxpayers' cash meant for mothers of young babies. They claimed
£720,000 in maternity allowance payments over more than four years - but got
their hands on less than half a million pounds worth after DWP officials became
suspicious.
Marijeni was previously jailed over his part in a sham
marriage con that saw him and his gang charge £3,500 to set up European and
non-Europeans with forged passports, wage slips and bills so they could marry.
Marijeni and his wife Poula Chikuhwa were building a
sprawling mansion in Zimbabwe on the proceeds of the latest scam, The
Wolverhampton Express and Star reported.
Marijeni, who was given a ten-year jail term for the
previous con, was handed a seven-year sentence for the maternity fraud today.
His wife Chikuhwa was jailed for three years.
Ten others were jailed for their parts in the fraud;
Liberty Masunda, 43, Tinashe Sagomba, 38, Toad Tagarira, 50, Kudakwashe
Mhembere, 37, Faith Mavis Tagarira, 41, Tiwone Dowoke, 38, Walasungu Ngwira,
39, Patience Kanjira, 19, Casper Mawoko, 36, Tapiwa Madziwa, 37.
Prosecutor Gurminder Sanghera said: 'These defendants set
up an expert operation to create false documents and falsely stamp them to
ensure they were accepted by the DWP. As a result of their actions, there has
been a loss to the taxpayer of £450,000 in false payments.
COMMENTS