UK tax fraud Nigerian couple jailed after £433k scam using TfL data, as court condemns major breach and identity misuse
A United Kingdom court has sentenced Nigerian nationals Luciana Akanbi and Femi Akanbi to three years and nine months in prison each after convicting them of a major tax fraud involving stolen employee data from Transport for London.
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The fraud case was concluded at Woolwich Crown Court, where both defendants were found guilty of orchestrating a sophisticated scheme that defrauded HM Revenue and Customs of more than £433,000.
Court records revealed that Luciana Akanbi, aged 38 and employed in the human resources department of Transport for London, unlawfully accessed confidential staff data, including passport details, National Insurance numbers, and bank information.
Prosecutors said the couple used the data of at least 40 employees to submit 139 fraudulent tax rebate claims, with attempted claims nearing £650,000.
The fraudulent activity, which occurred between September 2021 and January 2022, resulted in substantial financial loss to the UK public purse.
Presiding judge David Miller described the incident as the worst data breach in the organisation’s history, noting that it forced a sweeping overhaul of internal data protection systems.
The court heard that the stolen identities were used to create multiple self-assessment accounts across several devices, enabling the couple to execute the fraud at scale.
Investigators traced portions of the illicit funds to the defendants, including approximately £66,000 linked to Femi Akanbi and £16,000 to Luciana Akanbi.
Evidence also revealed that part of the proceeds was spent on gambling, with claims that Femi Akanbi struggled with addiction following illness during the COVID-19 period.
Judge Miller ruled that both individuals played central roles in the scheme, rejecting attempts to deflect responsibility and emphasising the significant harm caused to victims.
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Transport for London confirmed it has since strengthened its data protection systems, while HM Revenue and Customs reiterated its commitment to aggressively pursuing tax fraud and identity-related crimes.
