Prison for men in London 2012 Games scam involving millions of pounds
Pat Coughtrey
Saturday, May 5, 2012
4:00 PM
Two men who laundered millions of pounds as part of a scam to defraud the Olympic Delivery Authority were jailed after being found guilty of conspiracy.
At Southwark Crown Court Abayomi Olowo, 48, from Harrow, was sentenced to four and a half years while Ayodele Odukoya, 42, from Romford, received terms totalling three years and nine months.
They were arrested in 2010 by Operation Podium, the Met Police’s dedicated team looking at tackling serious organised crime affecting the Olympic economy.
Suspicions were raised about a letter claiming to be from Skanska, a contractor carrying out work on the Olympic Park at Stratford. The letter advised a change in bank details and £2.3million pounds was paid into this account. It was later reclaimed and police alerted.
Detective Superintendent Nick Downing, leading Operation Podium, said: “This complex investigation identified a sophisticated criminal network intent on defrauding the Olympic Delivery Authority of millions of pounds of public money. Each member of the network was motivated by greed, seeking to benefit financially in their own individual ways. The quick response of both the ODA and Skanska provided Podium with the opportunity to retrieve the majority of the stolen money.
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