Linchpin in £1m benefits fraud racket on the run, court told

Henry Baza 'orchestrated' the racket in which a gang made at least 165 false claims for maternity allowance payments, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Mr Harpreet Sandhu, prosecuting explained: "He was interviewed by investigators but, before he could be charged, fled the country. It may be that he is now in Malawi.

"We don't know where he is but he is not here to stand trial with the other defendants. This gives his co-conspirators every opportunity to blame him."

The group pocketed £450,000 from the scam but the figure would have been £1m if some claims had not been spotted as fake and rejected by Department of Work and Pensions officials, said the prosecutor.

He claimed there was a 'web of connectivity' between the 14 people in the dock - nine of whom had addresses in the Black Country - and Henry Baza who ran a string of aliases and bank accounts.

Fraud

The missing man's two sisters Tiwone Dokowe, aged 36, who lives in Smethwick and 38-year-old Walusunga Ngwira, whose home is in Bilston were also alleged to have played a part in the racket by recruiting others to join.

The two women had both pleaded guilty to another fraud involving maternity allowance payments in 2012 and Ngwira had admitted that counterfeit documents used in that crime had been provided by 44-year-old Clemence Marijeni who also has an address in Bilston and is accused of having a role in the latest money spinning scam.

Mr Sandhu maintained Marijeni created bogus documentation for the fraudulent claims and received fake maternity allowance payments into bank accounts he controlled in either his own name or aliases. The content of a hard drive found at his address also linked him to the plot, it was alleged.

Marijeni has admitted being a forger who provided counterfeit documents for other people, including Henry Baza, and accepted fraudulent maternity payments were made into his bank accounts but claimed to be operating alone and denied involvement in the conspiracy, continued the prosecutor.

Personal details of almost 30 people working at the same company as Tapiwa Madziwa had been passed on by him and used by the gang on applications for fake maternity allowance claims, it was stated. Others in the dock had allowed their bank accounts to be used as conduits for illegal benefit payments, the court heard.

• The accused are: Emek Chukwurah, 52, from Barringer Square, Wandsworth; Tiwone Dokowe, 36, Mansion Crescent, Smethwick; Patient Kanjira, 19, Mansion Crescent, Smethwick; Tapiwa Madziwa, 37, Rightwell East, Peterborough; Tinashe Sagomba, 37, Dereham Road, Thetford; Poula Chikuhwa, 26, Weston Drive, Bilston; Clemence Marijeni, 44, Weston Road, Bilston; Casper Mawoko, 35, Fullerton Close, Pendeford; Laura Baza, 29, Ledbury Walk, Cottesmore, Oakham; Faith Tagarira, 20, Chapel Street, Bilston; Todd Tagarira, 39, Chapel Street, Bilston; Kudakwashe Mhembere, 36, Chapel Street, Bilston; Liberty Masunda, 44, Mapleton Road, Hall Green and Walusungu Ngwira, 38, Milton Road, Bilston.

All deny conspiring together with Henry Baza to defraud the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by applying for and, or, receiving maternity allowance payment to which they were not entitled between May 4 2011 and August 28 2015. The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, continues.