Alleged Nigerian scammer ordered to pay nearly £1m from stolen money

Rilwan Oshodi, 31, the ringleader of a fraud gang has been ordered to repay nearly £1million which he stole from the life savings of an innocent victim.

He spent her savings on cheeseburgers, bottles of champagne and top-of-the-range computers.

He now claims he is so broke he can't even pay his lawyers - but a judge told him today that if he does not return his ill-gotten gains he will have to spend four more years in prison.

His girlfriend Annette Jabeth then posed as the victim and withdrew her £1million life savings, which the gang spent in a three-day shopping splurge in the New Year sales in January 2012.

Detectives said that their purchases had ranged from cheeseburgers to high-end computers and gold', while Oshodi spent £1,134 on taxis and bought expensive gadgets including a MacBook and an iPhone.

Appearing at Southwark Crown Court for a confiscation hearing today, Oshodi insisted he had not profited from the scam, and denied hiding money in overseas bank accounts.

He said: 'If I have hidden the goods, if I have got money how come I can't pay my solicitor, how come I can't rent a house, how come I was still broke, how come I am still broke, how come I am still poor?

'Wouldn't I get myself a new car, would I not buy myself some new clothes, Louis Vuitton or something?'

But judge Stephen Robbins said: 'I reject what he said today... he was the main mover and architect of this fraud and he has hidden assets most likely outside this jurisdiction.

'He said he got nothing from it at all, no benefit directly.'

Determining Oshodi to have made £940,820.34 in profit from the fraud, the judge ordered that he repay the total sum within six months or face a further four years in jail.