- Facing jail: 'Despicable' conman who lied that his wife and son died in Grenfell fire to claim thousands - and even told his sob story to Prince Charles
Anh Nhu Nguyen, 52 is facing up to three and a half years in prison
A serial fraudster has admitted pretending that his wife and son were killed in the Grenfell Tower blaze, in west London, in a “despicable” attempt to pocket £12,500 set aside for real victims of the disaster.
He claimed his wife and son died, and posed as a victim for a period of nearly two weeks as he picked up about £12,500 from charities and Kensington and Chelsea council.
The 52-year-old pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court on Thursday to two counts of fraud by false representation and one count of making an untrue statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport.
Nguyen, a British citizen born in Vietnam, was given a hotel room, clothing, food, electrical items and money. He was discovered to be a fake when he gave several different flat numbers, some of which did not exist and one where a real victim lived.
Kate Mulholland, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Nguyen’s deceit in the aftermath of such a catastrophic loss of life was breathtaking. He was willing to lie again and again, adapting his story when it was questioned, in order to profit from the huge aid efforts and outpouring of sympathy for true victims.
“CCTV showed that the day after the fire he was at a housing charity nine miles away in Whitechapel appearing happy and light hearted, and his mobile phone was located at his home in Beckenham. The selfishness and manipulation Nguyen showed has horrified those whose job it is to help the true victims of Grenfell Tower.”
Judge Philip Bartle said at a previous hearing that there was a “contemptible element” to the fraud.
Bartle added: “The background to this case is one which has received national, if not international, news coverage, because on 14 June a fire broke out in Grenfell Tower and a very large number of people died in that fire. It has received enormous coverage, there is an inquiry and the ramifications, for those people who are genuinely affected by this awful tragedy, are very considerable indeed.
“This defendant has engaged in what the court can only describe as, if he pleads guilty, a despicable offence, namely claiming that he and his family lived in Grenfell Tower and that his wife and son died in it. As a result of which he received goods or money to the value of £12,500. Money which would otherwise have gone to the people who were genuinely affected by this appalling tragedy.
“This defendant succeeded in achieving money out of the misery and tragedy of people who, unlike this defendant if he pleads guilty, genuinely suffered by this terrible fire.”
Nguyen, who has been in the UK since the 1980s, had 17 aliases, the court heard. He had 28 previous convictions for 56 offences spanning more than 30 years, including theft, dishonest offences, arson and grievous bodily harm.
Four days after the Grenfell Tower blaze he had gone to the Westway sports centre in North Kensington – where volunteers were helping survivors and setting up a refuge – and told people that he lived in the block and that his family had died in the fire.
The family of the victim who lived at one of the tower block addresses given by Nguyen was caused “significant distress” after being questioned by police due to the fraud, the court heard.
He was also convicted of lying to authorities, saying that in the fire he lost his passport, in the name Anh Tuan Nguyen.
Nguyen will be sentenced on 15 December.
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