The ringleaders of a major student loan fraud worth £368,000 have today been jailed for a total of seven years following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Daniel Buchanan, 31, of Downhills Way, Tottenham, and Mustapha Ali, 22, of Malcolm Road, E1, ran an extensive and sophisticated scheme, through which individuals could make false online applications for loans and grants to the Student Loans Company.
Buchanan was jailed for three years and Ali was jailed for four years at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court.
The National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) investigation centred on 174 fraudulent applications to the Student Loan Company for studies at 29 universities and colleges in the UK.
Both men were involved in providing false exam certificates to applicants and giving assistance to applicants to enrol on university courses with false documentation. In many cases the applicants withdrew from their courses before applying to other universities to claim another loan with Buchanan and Ali’s help.
Buchanan and Ali received a cut from the loan payment of the successful applicants and charged £1,000 for a set of false A-level certificates.
Buchanan also took advantage of the scheme by enrolling on a Criminal Law and Criminology degree at London Metropolitan University using fake qualifications created by Ali.
Richard Walton, Commander of the Counter Terrorism Command (SO15), said: “This was a major student loan scam. Buchanan and Ali criminally exploited the student loan system; legitimate students across the country will be thankful for these convictions.”
Ali was the administrator of the fraud and had been making fake applications on a small scale since 2008. Buchanan joined the scam in 2010 and acted as a recruiter which coincided with a significant increase in the rate of false applications.
As systems administrator Ali collated the identities of the students involved in the fraud plus the details and passwords of their SLC accounts. With that information he could access the accounts online, submit and update the false applications, monitor their progress and arrange payments.
A painstaking investigation revealed computers linked to Ali had accessed 186 student loan accounts 1,156 times. Detectives discovered that he kept spreadsheets to keep track of the fraudulent applications and recovered text exchanges where Ali explains the scheme to potential clients.
In September 2012 Buchanan raised suspicions when he called the SLC to ask for the return of his passport which he had submitted as part of his own loan application. Minutes later he phoned back pretending to be another applicant also requesting the return of a passport. The SLC established both calls were made from the same mobile phone, which their records showed belonged to Buchanan.
During the investigation Buchanan was recorded talking about collecting money, which he called ‘p’s’ or ‘bags’ , and made it clear he was working with Ali, who he described as ‘My Man’ and ‘My Brethren’. A search of his address subsequently uncovered documents relating to false applications and a list of people he had recruited.
On 4 December 2012 officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested Buchanan and Ali, and searched a number of premises recovering false documentation. In addition over £30,000 in cash was recovered along with evidence of extravagant lifestyle funded by the crime which included luxury foreign travel, designer clothing and high value jewellery.
Buchanan and Ali were charged on 5 December 2012 and pleaded guilty on Tuesday 19 March at Southwark Crown Court.
+ Full details of the guilty pleas:
On 19 March at Southwark Crown Court:
[A] Daniel Buchanan, 31 (19.05.82), of Downhills Way, Tottenham pleaded guilty to the following:
– Between 19.09.12 and 24.09.12 within the Jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court converted cash to the value of £24,515.31 by means of cash withdrawals from Barclays Bank and debit card transaction at South East Travel Company. Contrary to Section 327 1 (c) Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
– On or before 4.12.12 within the Jurisdiction of Central Criminal Court conspired with Mustafa ALI and persons unknown to defraud the Student Loans Company Ltd of £368,000. Subject to Common Law.
The following charge was left to lie on file.
– Between 11.03.10 and 4.12.12 within the Jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation, namely, you were entitled to Higher Rate Disability from the Department for Works and Pensions intending to make a gain, namely High Rate Disability Allowance and a Motability motor vehicle. Contrary to Section 1 (2) (a) Fraud Act 2006.
[B] Mustapha Ali, 22 (9.08.90) of Braintree House, Malcolm Road, E1 pleaded guilty to:
– On or before 4.12.12 within the Jurisdiction of Central Criminal Court conspired with Daniel Buchanan and persons unknown to defraud the Student Loans Company Ltd of £368,000. Subject to Common Law.
NOTE: The original indictment referred to the value of the fraud as £600,000. Guilty pleas were accepted to the value of £368,000.
++ Text exchange between Ali and potential client:
Client: “I got some of mi mates that wanna do dis uni ting dis year can u help them out”
Ali:”yh how old are they”
Client: “21, 22 nd that” “How much is it nd how quick can u do it”
Ali: “Yh I can get then a levels to get into Uni each yeh” “Gonna cost dem 600 each” “And they will be able to get into Uni”
Client: “Any uni yhh” “Nd I get a cut yh ??”
Ali: “Yh don’t worry il sort u out just line them up for me” “Normally I charge them 1000 when ther loan comes” “But tell then pay 600 cash and il give there things” “And when der loan comes they gotta pay 400”
+++ Extracts of Buchanan’s recorded comments:
9 November at 10:57hrs:
“John is weird though blood, his p’s are waiting for him, he is weird bruv, what is wrong with that youth bruv? Blood listen to this yeah, at the uni yeah, you get one letter and send it to the student finance people for the money yeah, they give John the p’s, can you hear me. They want a letter innit, all you’ve got to do is walk in there and they give you the letter innit, yeah, and then they pay your money about three days later yeah.”
12 November at 16:49hrs:
DB appears to be on the phone.
DB – “We’ve confirmed it yeah, they said it’s all been confirmed. No, no I tell what he said. You don’t do letters yeah, he said what we do, we get letters, we sent off your support number to them on the 9th of November as we are concerned that you’ve been attending and are at the university yeah. So he said we sent. I said Yeah but I need an attendance letter stating that I am here and that I am attending. He said no, no, no. You don’t get no letters, its all electronically done. We send off” DB appears to be listening to another party then DB – “He said to me, listen, he’s gone to me straight, he said listen Student Finance will pay you because we have sent everything to them, they’ve got it yeah.”
16 November at 14:10hrs:
DB in conversation with another male.
DB – “Do you know anyone that wants to go uni ak?”
Male – “Yeah I know enough people”
DB “I can put them in uni ak. Someone with an English passport and national insurance number.”
Male “Put me in. Can you get me on a course without doing access course nothing?”
DB “(Inaudible)
Male “I’ve got the money and that”
DB “No, that won’t get you in there. The thing is”
Male “Can’t I pay my own tuition fees”.
DB (laughing) “They give you the money, that’s why we do it because we take a percentage out of the money they give you.”
Male “No but I can pay you. I can give you 5 (inaudible) 2 bags if you can get me in there and I’ll pay my own tuition fees.
DB “Serious?”
Male “Yeah.”
DB “2 bags?”
Male “Listen I’ve already got someone to pay the tuition fees yeah.”
DB “I’ll get you in, I’ll get a double pay out then innit.”
Male “No, but I don’t want my tuition fees”
DB “They automatically give you the money no matter what. Even me they give me the p’s but they haven’t paid me yet.”
Male “So who pays you the money?”
DB “Student Finance people.”
Male “Yeah but who pays you like, the person that goes uni has to pay you?”
DB “Yeah, you give us like 3 bags out of the money.”
Male “I can do that. Its easy.”
DB “See my thing yeah, they haven’t paid me no money yet. I’ve been studying but they haven’t paid me no money yet. I’m just waiting. They will pay me. Its nothing, I’ll just use it for text books and stuff.”
Male “If you get me into uni without doing the access course… (over talking and inaudible)
DB “I got myself in.”
Male “how can I get in without any qualifications?”
DB “I can sort that out. My brethren makes it all up innit. He makes up all the qualifications, everything. You go, you rumble, you’re in, you start studying. Do your modules, anything. I’m doing it now. I’m doing a degree in law. I’ve got my little usb stick.”
Male “your brethren is going to have to sort me out because I need to get on a course”
DB “I could get you a degree in English ak, I could get you an English degree.”
Male “I want electrical engineering.”
DB “I can get that still.”