Conman admits defrauding Barking and Dagenham Council
A master conman faces jail after admitting today to carrying out an eight-year scam which netted him at least �650,000.
David Peters, 30, has been linked to at least 128 different identities, which he used to defraud banks, mortgage lenders and government agencies.
He used the driving licences to obtain a mortgage for a flat worth �157,495 in Eldridge Court, St Marks Place, Dagenham, and got a similar deal for a property in Edgeware.
Peters, of De Havilland Road, Edgware, also stole �168,575 in benefits from three London councils, including Barking and Dagenham, by claiming to be both tenant and landlord at the same address.
The fraudster, who was also named as Oluseyi Jeremiah Adebayo on court documents, was finally caught last year after City of London police launched an investigation following a tip-off by the DVLA and DWP.
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He had successfully applied for 74 UK driving licences under false names at various rural post offices across the country, using a checking system where the cashier certifies the documents as genuine.
Peters also applied for a change of name via deed pole to get his hands on genuine licences.
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Through photographic evidence from the DWP, DVLA and banks, Peters has been linked to 128 different identities from October 2002 until December of last year.
Peters admitted counts of making a false statement with a view to obtaining benefit; possession of criminal property; obtaining property by deception; fraud and possession of false identification documents at the Old Bailey on Monday.
DetInsp Richard Fisher, from the City of London Police, said: “This is the biggest case of identity theft we have ever investigated, with banks, mortgage lenders and government agencies all being caught in Peters’ web of deception.”
