Children get second chance as Black Country benefit fraudsters jailed for 47 years
Ten people convicted of taking part in a plot to pocket £720,000 through bogus maternity allowance benefits are starting jail sentences totalling 47 years today.
Two of their young relatives – 19-year-old Patience Kanjira and Faith Tagarira, aged 21 – were also found guilty of being part of the conspiracy but were given suspended jail terms.
Kanjira was the niece of Henry Baza, the alleged brains behind the operation who was interviewed by investigators but fled the country before he could be arrested and is now believed to be living in Malawi.
Criminal mother's role
Kanjira's 36-year-old mother, Tiwona Dokowe, and 39-year-old aunt, Walusungu Ngwira, played key roles in the racket and were each jailed for six years as the defendants were sentenced in batches of four over three days. Both had been locked up before for a carbon copy offence.
Kanjira was just 15 years old when Dokowe, who had just been freed from jail, roped her into the crime by helping the youth to open a bank account which had over £17,000 worth of illegal maternity benefits paid into it.
Since then the teenager from Mansion Crescent, Smethwick, has won a place at Manchester University, found a part-time job with Primark and has a bright future after the university agreed to keep a place open for her despite the conviction.
She was given a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years with 150 hours unpaid work and £3,000 costs.
Recruited by her father
Faith Tagarira, from Chapel Street, Bilston, also had bogus benefits paid into a bank account after being recruited by her 50-year-old father Todd.
He was jailed for four years while his girlfriend Kudakwashe Mhembere, 37, was locked up for two-and-a-half years.
Faith was given a 22-month jail term suspended for two years with 180 hours unpaid work and £3,000 costs.
The gang made at least 165 fake applications for payouts in four years and collected around £450,000 which was paid into bank accounts controlled or used by people involved in the fraud.
The ten jail sentences were were:
Clemence Marijeni, 44, of Weston Road, Bilston, received a seven-year term
Tapiwa Madziwa, 37, of Peterborough, got a six-and-a-half year sentence
Tinashe Sagomba, 37, of Thetford, received five years
Poula Chikuhwa, 37, of Weston Drive, Bilston, got three years
Casper Mawoko, 36, of Fullerton Close, Pendeford, got four years
Liberty Masunda, 45, of Mapleton Road, Hall Green, was sentenced to three years.
Todd Tagarira, 50, of Chapel Street, Bilston, was jailed for four years
Kudakwashe Mhembere, 37, of Chapel Street, Bilston, was given a two-and-a-half year term
Tiwona Dokowe, 36, of Mansion Crescent, Smethwick got a six-year sentence
Walusungu Ngwira, 39, of Milton Road, Bilston, also got six years
All pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to to defraud the Department of Work and Pensions but were convicted after a 15-week trial
The DWP, whose investigators uncovered the racket, said at the conclusion of the case: "People who steal identities or use fake ones in order to receive benefits they don’t deserve are cheating money out of hardworking taxpayers and stealing funds, which should be used to help those who really need them.
"We urge anyone who suspects they know someone fraudulently claiming benefits to call our National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440."
