A minicab driver who claimed he was earning just £700 a month but was living a luxury of life in his Nigerian mansion, has been ordered to pay almost £1.2million.
Ovo Mayomi and his wife Juliet Ubiribo were convicted of fraud in 2010 after using an identity and immigration scam to falsely claim £43,000 in benefits.
Mayomi, 44, claimed he was earning £700 a month and was living in Croydon, south London, while his wife, 32, claimed benefits after telling benefit bosses she was a single mother and a victim of domestic violence.
Fraud: Ovo Mayomi, 44, left, claimed he was earning £700 a month and living in Croydon, south London. His wife Juliet Ubiribo, 32, right, told benefit bosses she was a single mother and a victim of domestic violence
But fraud investigators found Mayomi and his wife were actually living in a large luxurious house in Lekki near the Nigerian city Lagos worth more than £1million complete with chandeliers and £89,000 worth of sound equipment. He also had a £25,000 watch. His wife wore a Rolex watch and drove a Mercedes Sport Coupi.
Now a judge has ordered Mayomi to pay £1,197,743.54 in a confiscation order under the Proceeds Of Crime Act, or go to prison for six years.
As well as two money-transferring businesses and bank accounts, investigators also discovered Mayomi owned a fish farm in the country.
The couple's benefit scam unravelled when a visa application by Mayomi showed they had married a year earlier and that Ubiribo had a job in order to support him.
Wealth: Fraud investigators found Mayomi owned a large luxurious house (pictured) in Lekki, near the Nigerian capital Lagos worth more than £1million complete with chandeliers and £89,000 worth of sound equipment
Modern: The well-equipped, contemporary kitchen inside Mayomi's plush Nigerian home
Opulent: A chandelier hanging inside the mansion in Lekki, Nigeria
Master bedroom: Mayomi claimed he was earning just £700 a month as a cab driver
Luxurious: The bathroom in Mayomi's Nigerian mansion was fitted with a free-standing bathtub
All mod cons: The mansion was found to be equipped with £89,000 worth of sound equipment
Ubiribo also asked the council to rehouse her because she was the victim of domestic violence.
However, the telephone number she gave revealed the man she named as her landlord - Ayiomike Neburagho - was, in fact, her husband Mayomi using a false identity.
At a police interview, Mayomi admitted that while living in Nigeria he had bought the identity of Ayiomike Matthew Neburagho and had entered the UK as him.
