Asylum seeker family claimed more than $6 million and created fake identities for up to 100 children

A FAMILY of fraudsters stole more than $6 million from taxpayers in a 20-year scam, with one claiming fake identities for up to 100 children.

The woman with up to 100 children also claimed to suffer from HIV and require costly drugs - but in reality sent them back to Uganda to be sold for huge profits, the Daily Mail reported.

A court in Croydon, London, heard that supplying the drugs for so many years cost the taxpayer more than $3.1 million (£2m).

A further $240,000 (£154,000) went on education for the "family", with $58,000 (£37,500) for a single higher education course.

Fraud relating to accommodation costs and sub-letting of flats cost $1 million (£650,000), and the family's myriad benefits totalled $1.4 million (£900,000).

During their six-week trial, a jury heard how the group "conspired together to create, use and exploit" false identities in order to carry out the staggering fraud.

An investigator told the Daily Mail: "The trouble is, they had so many identities that it may never be known exactly how much they took out of the benefits system and this country over such a long period of time."

Prosecutor Paul Raudnitz said: "The tentacles of this fraud went far and wide for many, many years. Each defendant at different times joined the conspiracy."

He said "key player" Ruth Nabuguzi, 49, "employed multiple identities ... so many that the true number of identities may never ever be known".

Nabuguzi, originally from Uganda, made claims for HIV/AIDS drugs costing $3.6 million (£2,3m). She also received £500,000 in housing benefit from Newham Council in east London, Croydon Crown Court heard.

Nabuguzi came to the UK in 1991 and claimed asylum for herself and four children she had left behind in Uganda. Three years later, she used the name Jane Namusisi to apply for asylum again - along with two more children. In 1999 - using the name Pauline Zalwango - she applied once more, this time with three children.

She is believed to have regularly travelled back to Uganda and bought at least three properties in and around the capital Kampala.

Dennis Kyeyune, 29, is thought to be Nabuguzi’s son or nephew. Police found a black holdall at his east London home hidden on a shed roof with a vast array of fake documents, described as a "kitbag for the commission of identity fraud". Other members of the gang include Jordan Sebutemba, 26, thought to be Nabuguzi’s daughter or niece; Albert Kaidi, a former partner of Sebutemba who is believed to be from Rwanda; and Lamulah Sekiziyuvu, 36, a former partner of both Keyuyne and Kaidi.

Kyeyune, Sebutemba, Kaidi and Sekiziyuvu were found guilty of various fraud offences yesterday. They will be sentenced along with Nabuguzi and Betty Tibakawa, 21, Lina Katongola, 29, Mathy Matumba, 50, and Eddie Carlos Semcenda, 30, next week.

Judge Nicholas Ainley said the gang faced "inevitable" prison sentences, adding: "This was a family business and these people knew they were involving themselves in a large scale immigration and benefits fraud. There must also now be questions about their immigration status and right to be in the country."

Mark Simpson, an investigator for the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "This case shows how criminals determined to cheat the benefits system have nowhere to hide when the different branches of the Government come together.

"We can pool our expertise to target and stop this fraud."

-  Daily Mail