KHATOUN: ‘BORRY JOHNSON’ FRAUDSTER JAILED FOR TWO YEARS

A prolific identity fraudster was today (Mon) jailed for two years for using the alias ‘Borry Johnson’ to launder almost £130,000.

Nadir Khatoun, 30, registered the ‘peculiarly chosen’ false name just a fortnight after Boris Johnson was elected as London Mayor in May 2008.

He used it to set up accounts which later received the profits from a series of sophisticated banking frauds.

Khatoun was unanimously convicted of money laundering following a week-long trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The Lebanese Nigerian had previously admitted possession of a false identity document and fraud.

Jailing him Recorder Richard Whittam QC said: ‘We have in the last week learned quite a lot about the opening of bank accounts and false identities and the movement of money.

‘This was unquestionably a sophisticated exercise.

‘I noticed that when you gave you evidence you said you felt very remorseful and regretted the pain you caused to your family, although you said you were on drugs, but you showed no remorse towards anyone who actually lost money.

‘This was organised, this was fraudulent from the outset, this was professionally planned.’

Jurors heard Khatoun was part of a sophisticated criminal gang which fleeced banks by using fraudulent aliases to open accounts before maxing out credit facilities and disappearing.

They also hijacked real people’s identities so they could raid their savings, on one occasion stealing £30,000 from an innocent doctor.

Financial records suggested that the fraudsters were raking in as much as £250,000 a year through their activities.

Khatoun used the ‘Borry Johnson’ identity, to launder large parts of the profits from the scams.

He had been using the false name Borry Baldeh since around 2003.

Prosecutor David Durose said: ‘The name was changed by deed poll to Borry Johnson, a couple of weeks after someone with a very similar name became the Mayor of London.’

In July 2008, two bank accounts were opened for companies supposedly owned by Borry Johnson. One related to a chauffeur business called ‘Embassy VIP Services’ and the other a plumbing firm called ‘Presidential Services’.

In the course of the scam, a total of £127,000 in criminal cash passed the through the various Borry Johnson accounts.

Khatoun was arrested in February 2009 after officers found him at an address in Surbiton, Surrey, which had been linked to the gang.

He was also arrested the following month as part of a separate investigation after police found three more false identities following a raid on a safe deposit box centre.

He pleaded guilty to identity fraud in relation to those offences and was jailed for 18 month, but following his release in August 2009, he used the Borry Johnson identity to withdraw £25,000 from the Presidential Services account.

Mr Durose said the account only had a balance of around £1 at the time ‘so this was all the bank’s money.’

Khatoun, of (16) Faraday Place, West Molesley, Surrey, denied money laundering. He admitted possession of a false identity document and fraud.

ENDS