End of the lies for the Grenfell Tower swindler

A fraudster is facing jail for faking the death of her relatives to steal cash, phones and a suitcases full of clothes donated to the Grenfell Tower survivors.

A day after the fire which claimed 71 lives, Joyce Msokeri, 47, marched into the Westway Centre set up to help victims.

She claimed she was living in a flat in the tower with her husband and sister-in-law, who were both missing

Over the following days Msokeri was given £5,000 in cash, a free taxi service and was put up at the Hilton Hotel in Holland Park with all expenses paid.

She filled her hotel room with so many new clothes that she had to store another ten suitcases full of garments with the concierge.

Msokeri spent the money to pampering herself with a new hairstyles, beauty treatments and handbags as the real survivors anxiously waited for news of their loved ones.

She was so gluttonous that when a social worker met her at her hotel room she ordered three meals for the two of them because it was free.

The crook became so indignant when there was no new underwear to fit her at the survivor’s centre that a manager bought her knickers with her own money.

Msokeri had three mobile phones – and had the social worker assigned to her removed from her case when she was not able to get her a fourth.

The fraudster even used a stooge to bring her husband back from the dead to try and keep the fraud running.

Prosecutor David Jeremy said volunteers were so desperate to help the victims that there was ‘a culture or atmosphere that was ripe for exploitation by someone like Ms Msokeri.’

‘No-one could really ring themselves to believe that someone would use the devastation caused by the fraud in order to obtain cash and benefits,’ he said.

‘No-one wanted to believe that – and for a long time they didn’t.’

Msokeri play acted throughout her trial, babbling from the dock, pretending she was so ill she had to sit in a wheel chair and covering her one of her eyes with a theatrical patch.

But the jury were not fooled and convicted her three counts of fraud and one of possessing a fraudulent driving licence.

Msokeri was not present in court to hear the verdicts, after claiming throughout the trial she was not well enough to attend court.

Judge Michael Grieve QC adjourned sentencing Msokeri until April 6.

Msokeri was living in a flat in Sutton, south London, at the time of the scam and owed her landlord around £15,000 in rent.

She was hoping to be allocated a new council flat to vanish and avoid ever paying her arrears.

The court heard she was a capable actress and was able to convince workers at the Westway Centre that she was traumatised by escaping from the fire.

Msokeri was provided with a dedicated social worker, personal police family liaison officers together with clothes, electrical goods cash and ‘an array of hats.’

‘She took the opportunity to grab anything she could,’ Mr Jeremy said.

Megan Hessian, who was working as a night manager at the Westway Centre for said she was surprised when Msokeri had ‘complete and total inability to know where she lived.’

‘She didn’t want old, used things. In the beginning everything but the undergarments were second hand. She didn’t want second hand, she wanted new.

‘I purchased undergarments for her with my money because we didn’t have her size.’

Two weeks after the tragedy she noticed Msokeri had a ‘new haircut, new clothing and a new handbag’ when she arrived at the Westway Centre.

Msokeri was so greedy she even had a social worker removed from her case when she objected to her receiving a fourth mobile phone from charity workers.

But her desperation to get her hands on large sums of cash would prove her undoing.

Msokeri wanted to create a fake husband so she could claim a large amount of money by pretending he had died in the fire.

She befriended therapist Miriam Budeima and they watched a video of the disaster together.

When pixilated pictures of victim who had died were shown Msokeri appeared to burst into tears and said she recognised her husband.

She also said she heard the voice of her missing sister in law on the video.

Msokeri told the friend to say she had seen the husband before the fire invited the friend to a meeting with a police officer and social worker at the Hilton Hotel.

At the meeting in her room she pretended she was watching the video for the first time and wailed hysterically: ‘That’s my husband.’

She claimed her husband was called Sunhil but in fact it was a man called Gary Maunders.

The friend did as she was asked – but then called the police officer and admitted she had lied.

Msokeri was arrested for fraud but even then she could not stop herself continuing the ruse.

She got a mentally ill ex-boyfriend to pretend he was her husband who had been miraculously discovered.

Msokeri had Juma Hanlon admitted to St Charles Hospital, pretending he was suffering from the trauma of the fire.

Her lawyers saw him on the ward and told police the missing husband had reappeared.

Mr Hanlon left the hospital and a friend contacted the police when he told her what Msokeri was making him do

Msokeri claimed to be suffering from a string of illnesses during the proceedings, including suddenly losing the ability to speak and swallow.

But there was no health reason for her to sit in court in a wheelchair.

Dr Ian Cummings told the court said Msokeri was lying about her ailments to frustrate proceedings.

He said defendants often ‘put on’ illnesses to ‘avoid being prosecuted’, ‘for sympathy’ and ‘to make it difficult to engage with court processes’.

The prosecutor said: ‘It is very clear there is no clinical basis for her professed need to use a wheelchair. She is not suffering from any mental illness or mental health condition.

‘As to the fact she is sitting at the back of court in a wheelchair, that is her choice.’

Msokeri, of Ambleside Gardens, Sutton, south London, denied but was convicted of three counts of fraud and one of possessing an identity document with improper intention.

She was remanded in custody ahead of sentence on April 6 at the Old Bailey.
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