A conman who flaunted his luxury lifestyle on Instagram while on the run from an eight-year prison sentence for a £2.4 million fraud is finally behind bars.
Sami Raja, 32, posted pictures on social media as he enjoyed the high-life in Dubai and a resort in the Maldives, posing with designer goods including a £4,000 Rolex and a £33,000 Aston Martin.
He had left the UK in December 2017, just before his trial was due to begin, and was convicted in his absence of helping to con elderly victims out of their life savings in a ‘cold-calling’ scam.
Raja, from Grays, Essex, was sentenced to eight years in prison last January for six counts of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, but continue to evade justice on the other side of the world.
However City of London Police said today the fraudster was captured in mid-July this year as he travelled to Athens, and he appeared at Southwark crown court today to formally start his sentence.
During his trial, it was revealed how elderly victims had been conned out of a total of £2.4 million through the mis-selling of carbon credits in 2012 and 2013.
Senior Investigating Officer Hayley Wade, of the City of London Police’s Fraud Squad, said: “Raja cruelly targeted elderly individuals with the intention of defrauding them of their life savings. At the time of his crimes he clearly felt no remorse for his actions and this attitude has only become more apparent over the last 18 months.
“He is a callous and greedy individual, but today we have shown he is not above the law. We hope the fact he is now finally serving the prison sentence he deserves for his crimes, will bring some comfort to the victims in this case.
“I would like to thank the National Crime Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, Metropolitan Police and the authorities in Greece, for all of their assistance in bringing Raja back to the UK to face justice.”
Raja was first arrested over the scam in September 2013, and he spent five years released under investigation before the case finally made it to court.
He denies the charges against him before fleeing justice, and was one of five men convicted over the scam.