‘Fraudsters got £220k after saying they lived at Grenfell’
A COUPLE appeared in court yesterday accused of falsely claiming that they had lived in Grenfell Tower in order to take £220,000 in public aid. Elaine Douglas and Tommy Brooks were put up in a smart hotel after they told officials they had lived on the 19th floor of the West London tower block before the fire.
The couple, who are both 51, had claimed they survived because they were staying with friends on the night of the inferno, which killed 71 on June 14 last year.
As a result, Douglas received £117,000 in financial support, while Brooks received £103,000.
Police arrested the couple on Tuesday after launching an investigation which allegedly found that their stories were false.
They were both charged yesterday with three counts of fraud by false representation and appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court. The pair were remanded into custody and will appear at Isleworth Crown Court on May 30.
Two weeks ago a business management student appeared in the same court accused of claiming his father died in the blaze to get £5,500 and a free stay in a hotel.
Muhammad Gamoota said he had lived on the 24th floor of the tower block with his father Abdul Salam, prosecutors claim.
In aftermath of the inferno, the 31year-old said he survived because he was attending midnight prayers at a mosque, it was said.
He was arrested in October after police allegedly discovered that his father was alive and lived overseas.
Gamoota, who was born in the United Arab Emirates, denies committing two counts of fraud between June 14 and July 29 last year. He was also remanded into custody and will appear at Southwark Crown Court on May 16.
In March Zimbabwean conwoman Joyce Msokeri, 43, was jailed for four-and-a-half years for posing as a Grenfell survivor and falsely claiming to have lost her husband. She claimed £19,000 in handouts, including free stays at a Hilton Hotel.
In February, Anh Nhu Nguyen, 52, was jailed for 21 months after claiming his wife and 12-year-old son had been killed to obtain £12,500 from funds meant for victims.
The Vietnamese illegal immigrant, who was comforted by Prince Charles in the aftermath, lived 12 miles away in Beckenham, southeast London. Scotland Yard’s fraud squad is investigating an Afghan family of 15 who claimed they lived in a single flat in the tower.
‘Claimed they were staying with friends’