Muhammad Gamoota, 24, of Westminster, allegedly claimed he lived at Grenfell Tower
A business management student who pretended to be a Grenfell Tower victim’s son to get £5,000 and free hotel stays was jailed for 18 months today.
Mohammad Gamoota, 31, claimed he was living with his father on the 24th floor when the fire ripped through the building and he only escaped because he was praying at his local mosque.
The court heard a booking was made for Gamoota at a Holiday Inn where he racked up a £374 room service bill.
He was also put up at a second hotel and the total fraud amounted to £6,784, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Gamoota has become the fifth convicted Grenfell fraudster, following Joyce Msokeri, 47, Anh Nhu Nguyen, 53, Elaine Douglas, 51, and Tommy Brooks, 52.
Judge Robin Johnson told him: ‘You claimed your father Abel Salem had died in the fire. That was a name that had been reported in the press.
The Grenfell Tower fire took place on June 14 last year in North Kensington, West London
‘You had no connection with this family. A cash payment was made for £500 and a further payment was made for £5,000.
‘Due to a technical hitch you were only able to obtain £500 of that payment. You were not deterred and continued to call your social worker in pursuance of this claim.
‘This was not a moment of madness. You spent days in accommodation that was set aside for those who were grief stricken, homeless and no doubt in a state of shock.
‘That did not stop you tapping into the funds that had been rightly made available for those people.’
Gamoota first approached staff at the Westway Centre two days after the devastating fire in North Kensington, West London, on June 16.
He was assigned a social worker by Harrow Council, who was tasked with taking care of Gamoota while he was given hotel accommodation.
The social worker spoke with him on June 22 and met with him in the lobby of the Holiday Inn where he told her he lived at flat 219 on the 24th floor.
Grenfell Tower smoulders after the devastating blaze ripped through the tower block last June
The court heard that he claimed to have been a resident there for seven years and at the time of the blaze he was at midnight prayers.
Gamoota was given £500 and told he would receive a total of £5,000. But due to issues with his bank account, he only ever received £500.
Gamoota approached the social worker again to say that the payment of £5,000 had not materialised.
The other four Grenfell Tower fraudsters
The latest fraud conviction comes two days after two illegal immigrants who lied about living in Grenfell to claim more than £120,000 in handouts pleaded guilty to fraud on Wednesday.
Elaine Douglas
Jamaican nationals Elaine Douglas, 51, and Tommy Brooks, 52, spent eight months living in a four-star hotel at the taxpayers’ expense at a cost of £400-a-night.
Tommy Brooks
They also spent more than £20,000 on meals and clothing on pre-paid credit cards which were given to them by the local council. They are yet to be sentenced.
Joyce Msokeri
In April, Joyce Msokeri, 47, was jailed for four-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey for fraud after posing as a Grenfell survivor in a £19,000 scam.
She claimed around £19,000 in cash donations, electronics, handbags, dresses and hotel costs – and filled a room at Hilton hotel with donations from charities.
Two months prior, in February, serial conman Anh Nhu Nguyen, 53, was jailed for 21 months after pretending his family died in the Grenfell fire.
He claimed his wife and son were killed in the atrocity to obtain about £12,500 from funds intended for victims – and even met Prince Charles as he posed as a survivor.
Anh Nhu Nguyen meets Prince Charles
Prosecutor Benjamin Holt said the fraud was planned as he got his story from a national newspaper.
He said: ‘On June 15 an article appeared in a national newspaper and named an Abdel Salam. It mentioned the fact that he had two sons who had gone to the mosque on the night of the fire.’
Claire McGrath, defending, told the court Gamoota’s partner was having a baby and he desperately needed the cash.
McGrath said: ‘The baby was due in July 2017 and did not have any money. When the tragedy occurred he saw a way of perhaps obtaining some money in order to provide those to his partner.
‘He knows it was a foolish and reprehensible thing to do. Looking back now he is extremely ashamed of his actions.’
Gamoota was originally arrested at his home in Croydon, South London, at 7.30am but was released. He was rearrested after an identity parade and further investigations on April 17.
Officers seized his telephone upon his arrest where it transpired he had screenshots of the ‘electoral roll of people who lived at Grenfell Tower’.
Mr Holt read out a statement from Corrine Jones, a Grenfell resident, who described the fraud as ‘disgusting and distasteful.’
Another resident, Manuel Alves, said: ‘Words cannot express how disgusted I am that the fraudsters have had the audacity to pull such a stunt.
‘They have violated the real victims and survivors by abusing the system put in place to help us.
‘The actions of these fraudsters have totally ripped the heart and faith out of the Grenfell Tower community.
Seven members of Gamoota’s family sat in the public gallery throughout today’s sentencing.
The inferno claimed 71 lives and injured 70 when the blaze took hold of the block.
Gamoota, from Westminster, admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position.
Jailing him, Judge Johnson said: ‘Looking at your case I am satisfied that any right-minded person would look with utter revulsion. In the wake of a national disaster you decided to enrich yourself while you masqueraded as a true victim.’
After the case, Kate Mulholland, of the London Crown Prosecution Service complex casework unit, said: ‘This was a premeditated fraud in which Mohammad Gamoota pretended he had lived in the Grenfell Tower fire, when he really lived with his mother in Croydon.
‘He searched online news articles to discover the name of an elderly man who died in the fire and claimed to be his son. When suspicions were aroused, Gamoota disappeared but the prosecution was able to link him back to the fraud.
‘Evidence including CCTV showing Gamoota collecting money from the post office, along with messages and searches on his phone, enabled the CPS to build a strong case and Gamoota pleaded guilty.’