Counterfeit Couple Receive Confiscation Order

Updated:Jul 2010

Counterfeit Couple Receive Confiscation Order

A couple who made a fortune from forging and supplying bank cards and identity documents both received confiscation orders totalling £500,000 at Inner London Crown Court on the 11th of June.

Henry Abu, aged 35 of Kinglake Street, London was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment on the 11th of March 2008 for conspiracy to maunfacture passports and bank cards and conspiracy to use passports and bank cards.
His wife, Benedicta Idemudia, a sales assistant was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for conspiracy to manufacture and conspiracy to use.

Judge Davis agreed that Abu and his wife had benefited to the tune of £1,627,138.74 from their crimes. Abu was given a confiscation order for £400,000 with a default sentence of 4 years with 3 months to pay. Idemudia was given a confiscation order for £100,000 with 6 months to pay or a further 1 year imprisonment if she fails to do so. By serving the default sentence, the pair will not clear themselves of the debt.

In December 2005, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Maxim executed a search warrant at Abu and Idemudia's home address after receiving information from German police. Abu has lived in Germany since 1994 but came to live in the UK in 2004 with Idemudia where he divided his time between Germany and the UK.

In a locked room at the address, officers discovered counterfeit documents and bank cards along with the equipment to manufacture them.

Approximately £4000 in cash was found in envelopes in a wardrobe. A further £200, 2500 Euros and $47 dollars was also seized.

Both Idemudia and Abu denied any knowledge of the contents of the locked room and claimed that a Nigerian lodger used it. Further police enquiries found no trace of a lodger and forensic evidence linked Idemudia directly to the counterfeit documents and equipment.

Further investigations found that the couple were using this equipment to manufacture false identity documents and bank cards on a massive scale. These were then used to assist in the illegal immigration of predominantly Nigerian citizens into the Federal Republic of Germany and the UK.

DCI John Kielty of Operation Maxim said: "This couple were making significant profit from the wide scale production of false documents, which we know are used to support a wide range of serious offences. Maxim working closely with the German authorities successfully shut down this criminal operation. I am pleased that colleagues in RART have ensured that the courts have recognised the large amount to be made from this type of crime leading to today's terrific result."

DCI Sean Wanless of London RART said:"The success of the financial investigation, which has led to today's confiscation orders being made, reflects the determination of the London Regional Asset Recovery Team and the Metropolitan Police Service to remove the profits of criminal enterprise."