Convicted Fraudster Ordered To Pay Compensation

A man serving an eight year jail term for fraud has been ordered to pay compensation to his victims or face an additional three years in jail.

Frank Onyeachonem, 39, was found guilty in June last year of defrauding elderly and vulnerable people of large sums of money.

The Old Bailey has now ruled that Onyeachonam remaining assets, a sum of £158,149, must be paid in compensation to victims.

Onyeachonam, known as 'Fizzy', had lived in a luxury London apartment overlooking the River Thames. He began an international lottery scam in 2005 targeted people named on "suckers lists", which are traded between criminals to identify those likely to be susceptible to scams.

Victims would receive letters telling them they had won the Australian or Euromillions lotteries and instructing them to call the lottery agent, which would be Onyeachonam.

The victims were then convinced to pay fees and taxes before they could receive large cash prizes.

Onyeachonam encouraged his victims to set up 'legitimate' businesses with accompanying bank accounts, which were then used to launder the proceeds of the fraud. As a result, some of the victims were themselves subject to law enforcement investigation.

Garry Crone from the NCA's Economic Crime Command said: "Onyeachonam previously enjoyed a lifestyle of  champagne, designer clothes and fast cars. Those days are well behind him, and he can now add the loss of his illicit profits to the loss of his liberty.  The NCA is determined to prevent criminals from benefitting financially from illegal activity, and we are pleased that in this case, victims will have money returned to them."

(MH)