Fraudsters Found Guilty In London Court

Fraudsters who attempted to take £800,000 from the estates of two dead pensioners have been found guilty at Inner London Crown Court.

The pair are husband and wife, with Georgia Forteath, aged 31, a Jamaican National of Drakefell Road, Lewisham found guilty on 23 September for a total of 23 indictments of fraud and her husband Harvil Connally, aged 39, of Drakefell Road found guilty of fraud and money laundering in relation to £180,000.

The investigation into the fraud began following the death of Fredrick Joseph Lewis from Woodville Road, Thornton Heath. Mr. Lewis's body was found in his home on 1 January 2008 but it was believed that he had been dead for some time.

Fredrick Joseph Lewis was an elderly man who mainly kept to himself.

His nearest relatives had all emigrated and although he had some friends locally, he led a quiet and solitary life.

After his death his relatives were contacted in Australia to inform them of his death and his brother travelled to the UK to arrange the funeral.

Once Mr. Lewis's brother returned to Australia he appointed a solicitor to sort out the estate and it was quickly discovered that Mr. Lewis's accounts had been emptied and closed.

Further investigation revealed a will stating that the executor would be a Georgia Forteath.

The signature would later be proved to be fraudulent and the beneficiary name was also false, so the suspects could pocket the money from the estate amounting to £500,000.

Forteath drained all of the bank accounts and when officers began to investigate her, documents were found showing that she was also attempting to transfer ownership of Mr. Lewis's house into her name and had been updating it to increase its sale value.

Forteath and Connally had also named a co-executor on Mr. Lewis's will as a Doreen Kimber from Malvern Road, Thornton Heath.

However, Doreen had also recently passed away and it became clear that Connally was named as the owner of Doreen's property on Malvern Road.

He had also placed the property up for sale for £220,000. The solicitor's signature on Doreen Kimber's will had been faked.

Doreen Kimber was a shy and reclusive person who did not have any relatives living close by.

However, a friend who visited her in hospital shortly before she died became suspicious when she found out Connally and Forteath were living in her house.

Forteath and Connally were living in Doreen's property using the dead woman's direct debit card to pay for goods from Argos such as a laptop and a washing machine.

Further investigation revealed that Forteath had £10,000 transferred from Doreen's account into her own after her death. In fact, Doreen had left all of her property to her nieces.

Detective Constable Andrew Birks, investigating officer said: "This has been a very complex investigation, which has spent the last 12 months unravelling the fraud on the estates of the late Mr Lewis and Miss Kimber.

"A jury has convicted these two defendants who since arriving in this country from Jamaica have involved themselves in a lifestyle of crime and deceit.

"They gave confusing detail in their evidence to Court, which was quickly dispelled to reveal the complexity of their lies, lies designed to blame and involve others rather than admit their own high level of involvement.

"An illegitimate daughter was invented by them for Mr Lewis. This was quite simply disgusting and created a lot of heartache for his family until police could establish the lies.

"My sympathy goes out to both families in this case and I now hope that the families can move on with it own memories of their loved ones in their hearts and minds rather than the spurious lies concocted by these two.

"I firmly believe that this case is more complex and there may be other victims who have been targeted by these two and their associates who remain at large. I would urge anyone who believes they may have been victims to contact me or their local police service," he said, on Monday.

Detectives are also still seeking information as to the whereabouts of Tifina Zlatanova, 45 (dob 31.8.65) who is a Bulgarian national, of slim build with long dark hair.

She is believed to have been involved in the fraud on Doreen Kimber's estate as she was named as a co-executor on the fraudulent will by Forteath.

Officers are still eager to speak to her and would like to hear from anyone who can assist.

Tifina may have travelled to the north London area and would ask anyone with any information to call police on 020 8649 2147 or the non-emergency number, 101.

(BMcC/GK)