
![]() |
Brian Sims
Editor |
Home> | Fire | >Fire and Rescue | >Grenfell fraudster jailed |
Grenfell fraudster jailed
06 December 2018
A MAN has been jailed after falsely claiming he was sleeping rough in the Grenfell Tower so he could access £88,0000 worth of benefits meant for genuine victims of the fire.
Abdelkarim Rekaya, 28, was handed a four-and-a-half year prison sentence at Isleworth Crown Court today [30 November] after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to fraud and obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception.
As a result of his false claims he was put up in emergency accommodation in a hotel for eight months at a cost to the council of £60,401.
Rekaya was then moved into a studio flat in Chelsea for six months at a cost of another £15,895.77, including £3,166.17 worth of furniture, electrical goods and bills. He was also given payments totaling £11,885.40, and monthly travel cards.
The second offence related to Rekaya claiming another 12 months leave to remain.
CCTV showed he had not been at the tower before or after the time of the fire, prompting his guilty plea.
The CPS applied for a forfeiture order to recover £2,000 in cash found in the flat when he was arrested.
David Davies, of the London CPS Complex Casework Unit, said, "Abdelkarim Rekaya falsely claimed he had been sleeping rough in the Grenfell tower so he could personally benefit from this tragedy.
"He made-up an account of waking up and fleeing the building, but the CPS was able to disprove his lies leading to this conviction."
- Fire Industry Association joins forces with Fire Safety Matters for emergency lighting webinar
- Register for FireFit Championships at INTERSCHUTZ 2020
- Mayor of London warns of frontline police cuts
- Seven security tips for SMEs that won’t break the bank
- Gallagher’s latest release hits the market
- UK wants security partnership with EU post Brexit
- Enviraz (Scotland) Limited fined in wake of fatal gas explosion
- Grenfell one year on
- Company directors convicted after major fires
- Police Crime Prevention Academy develops new qualification for officers deployed by ISS
- State of the Union
- Government outlines fire service reforms
- From the editor
- Fire safety returns home to NEC Birmingham
- Blog for FSM website
- Cigarette fires on the rise
- Union outrage at 'obscene' pay rises
- State of the Union
- Fire safety on the agenda in Scotland
- Major fire at Worcester hub of home delivery firm