A former estate agent who was jailed eight years ago for attempting to defraud clients of £25,000 is at it again, this time by making sham insurance claims.

37-year-old Dominic Ayo Williams, who when working as an estate agent in Croydon, was known as Ayodele Oladuti, has now been jailed for two years suspended for 18 months after investigators from AXA and Aviva uncovered large numbers of fraudulent holiday insurance claims.

Williams had told the insurers that multiple holidays had been cancelled due to Covid restrictions overseas and that he had lost valuables while on holiday including a Louis Vuitton bag that contained  high-value items, Your Local Guardian reports.

In November 2023 Williams pleaded guilty to the 16 charges of fraud and false representation during which saw him receive £61,380 over 18 months from the two insurers.

Disruption

After being sentenced, Detective Constable Dan Weller, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said: “Many of us faced disruption to our travel plans as a result of Covid-19.

“Williams took advantage of this and systematically made bogus insurance claims for 18 months, pocketing tens of thousands of pounds that he wasn’t entitled to.”

Estate agency

In 2017 Oladuti, as he was then known, was working as an estate agency in Croydon but was caught when, during a property viewing, the person he was showing around became suspicious after the fraudster took pictures of the home owner’s credit cards and pocketed bank statements. He was also caught on CCTV looking through drawers and cupboards.

Oladuti then stole his client’s identities and set up bank accounts and contracts in their name, stealing thousands during the fraud.

It also transpired that he had used faked references and qualifications on his CV to get the job in the first place. He tried to defraud 20 different vendors and attempt to steal £25,000, although he only pocketed £6,000 before being caught.

Pic credit: ITVX

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