[Osem]

Four men have been convicted over a phone scam carried out across the south of England that defrauded 18 pensioners out of a total of £600,000.

Mohamed Dahir, 23, Sakaria Aden, 22, and Yasser Abukar, 24, were found guilty of conspiring to commit fraud.

Mohammed Sharif Abokar, 28, was convicted at the Old Bailey of converting criminal property. All four are from north London.

The scam involved gang members posing on the phone as police officers.

A fifth man, Ibrahim Farah, 23, also from north London, was acquitted of conspiring to commit fraud.

The Metropolitan Police said the fraud was uncovered after a separate terrorist investigation found payments in a bank account used by someone who later travelled to Syria...

... Dahir's defence barrister Patrick Harte told the court his client had a letter from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn "setting out his roots in the area" of Islington. The letter had been sent as part of Dahir's earlier bail application, Mr Harte told the press.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35064360

A convicted fraudster was behind bars tonight despite a letter from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to an Old Bailey judge supporting his bail application.

Mohammed Dahir was one of four men convicted of swindling a string of frail pensioners out of more than £600,000 of their life savings...

Dahir was granted bail on May 21 this year when he was awaiting trial and his application was supported by Corbyn’s letter.

The Labour leader’s letter was raised a second time in the failed attempt to get bail a second time today.
...

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime...-a3134716.html

It's a pity this guy's 'roots' didn't include decency and honesty.