Shop fraudster gangleader arrested on the run in Bradford

Isaiah Olugosi, 38, and his gang of crooks exploited around 30 girls and trafficked them across the country to target high street stores with dodgy refunds on reduced goods.

Once inside the shop, the girls were told to put fake barcodes on items to pay a much cheaper price before later returning and asking for a refund at the full value.

Olugosi, 38, orchestrated the large-scale fraud enterprise from his home in Ely, Cambridgeshire, where he lived with his wife and printed the fake receipts and barcodes used to con retailers.

He and his fellow gang members have now been prosecuted under modern slavery laws for the first time in the UK, and await sentencing.

After being arrested at an address in Ilford, police went to charge him but he had gone on the run, and was found six days later in Bradford where he had already created a new life for himself, living in a rented room under an assumed name in an attempt to evade police.

Despite the petty nature of his crime network, the fraudster and his accomplices managed to scam around £500,000 over a two-year period.

Holly Ogubosi spent tens of thousands of pounds of criminal cash on cosmetic surgery, tanning and holidays

His wife Holly Olugosi, 31, spent huge sums of the swindled cash on cosmetic surgery, tanning sessions, a new Mercedes, luxury holidays and even a fridge costing £2,500.

Girls were recruited via social media and approached in the street, mainly in Greater London and Essex, with some living in foster homes and others had been reported missing, police said.

More than 30 of the victims, aged between 14 and 17-years-old, were discovered by police when they unearthed the extend of the fraud in 2020.

It is believed the shop scams began in around 2018, but bank data showed funds from crime going into Olugosi's accounts as far back as 2013, police said.

As his criminal operation grew too big to control alone, he built up a network of trusted lieutenants including team leaders and drivers.

Eva Dambrauskaite, 21, and Baran Karamagara, 22, were made team leaders who recruited and managed vulnerable young girls to carry out theft and fraud for the organised crime gang.

The team leaders would trick or coerce the girls into joining their criminal gang, before Olugosi and his drivers transported them across the UK using pre-planned routes to target branches of each store.

The girls would often be missing for several days, committing fraud during the day and staying in hotels at night, typically hitting at least 10 stores a day making thousands of pounds.

One of Ogubosi's team leaders Eva Dambrauskaite

In the early part of the conspiracy, Olugosi personally drove his victims around, telling them what goods to get, which fraud technique to use and which branches to target.

But as time went on, and with Dambrauskaite and Karamagara acting as his trusted ‘drivers’, Olugosi was able to do less of the leg work.

The stolen funds were then laundered through at least one hundred UK bank accounts, in many cases set-up in the names of vulnerable children or adults with mental health problems, and controlled by the gang.

Adults with mental health problems and severe learning difficulties were cuckooed, with their addresses used to register phones and vehicles.

Police were tipped off by children’s services about the gang and retailers also reported it to them, and investigators began to notice a pattern in the refund claims.

In March 2020 police raised a string of homes and seized printers, computer equipment, fake receipts, bar codes, cash and devices used to communicate with the girls.

After searching Holly Olugosi's home, officers found she tried to hide several pieces of evidence before returning to their home where officers were still searching.

Karamagara and Dambrauskaite were arrested at addresses in Essex and Tottenham, north London, on March 16, 2020.

Isaiah Olugosi was arrested at an address in Ilford the next day and Holly Olugosi, 31, was interviewed under caution at a police station in Cambridgeshire.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided the gang could be charged under the Modern Slavery Act. It is believed this is the first time the act has been used in a fraud case in UK law.

Baran Karamagara

After a three-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court that finished on Thursday, February 10, Dambrauskaite, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, was found guilty of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of children for exploitation, two counts of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, possession of articles for use in fraud and possession of cannabis.

At a hearing last May, Isaiah Olugosi admitted conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of children for exploitation, two counts of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and possession of articles for use in fraud.

Holly Olugosi also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering at the same court.

Baran Karamagara, of Tottenham, north London, admitted conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of children for exploitation and two counts of conspiracy to defraud in December.

All four are due to appear at the same court for sentencing at a date yet to be set.

Sergeant PJ Jones, officer in the case from the Met’s Predatory Offender Unit, said: “This is a serious case involving the criminal exploitation of a large number of juvenile girls spanning many years.

“Olugosi and others were too cowardly to execute their own crimes, and actively recruited girls with obvious vulnerabilities.

“They embedded themselves through peer groups of vulnerable people using them to commit fraud and using their accounts to launder money.

“This was a protracted investigation which involved countless enquiries, witness statements and searches of premises to secure evidence from offences as widely spread as Glasgow and Devon.

“Throughout the proceedings, all of the suspects in this case did everything they could to conceal evidence, minimise their own involvement and delay justice.

“I am thankful to the staff from both retailers for highlighting this case as a safeguarding concern from the outset, voicing concerns about the ages of the girls involved.

“Without the bravery of all of the victims and witnesses in this case, the enterprise would never have been unearthed and I wish to thank them all for their trust.

“The Metropolitan Police Service has officers dedicated to confront those targeting vulnerable people and continue to work closely with partners to tackle Modern Slavery and exploitation.”

Marie Olo, of the CPS said after the latest hearing that the young victims were picked out by the gang because of their troubled backgrounds.

She added: “Isaiah Olugosi recruited, coached and transported teenage girls around the country to commit refund fraud in high street stores.

“The girls were selected because they were vulnerable with difficult backgrounds or mental health problems, and when they were caught, he was perfectly willing to step back and let them face arrest and potential prosecution.

“When he learned the police had discovered his involvement he tried desperately but unsuccessfully to destroy evidence and hide money.

“Exploiting others for criminal gain is a serious criminal offence and wherever possible the CPS will work with police to help victims escape the clutches of modern slavery, while prosecuting the people who have pulled the strings.”