Council tenant who owned three properties is fined £289,000 and given nine months in jail

When sentencing him on 7 January at Harrow Crown Court, Judge Mitchell said Samuel Nwangoro, a 64-year-old chartered accountant from Tillett Close, Harlesden, in north-west London, had illegally founded “a small property empire”.

Nwangoro was given a council flat on St Raphael’s Estate in Harlesden in 1996 after claiming to be homeless.

He received benefits payments that enabled him, his wife and his four children to live there.

But far from being homeless, Nwangoro actually owned two other homes – in Kingsbury and Milton Keynes – which he was renting out.

By the time of his arrest in 2003, Nwangoro was still claiming housing and council tax benefit, he was trying to buy his Harlesden council flat and he also now owned a third property in London.

On 26 January 2004 Nwangoro admitted defrauding Brent council of £48,889 in housing and council tax benefit at Harrow Crown Court.

As well as imposing a fine of £240,000 – equal to the amount he made from the crime – Judge Mitchell ordered him to repay Brent council the £48,889.

If Nwangoro fails to pay the £288,889 fine in full, he will have to serve a further two years in prison on top of his nine month sentence.

Simon Lane, head of the council’s fraud investigation team, said:

“This result marks the end of a major inquiry by my officers, who worked in partnership with Brent police to secure a conviction and confiscation order.

“We are determined to ensure benefit fraud does not pay and this case should send a clear message to fraudsters that not only will we seek recovery of funds, we will also look to confiscate any assets generated by the crime.”