Investigators used civil recovery action to reclaim funds for nine victims of a fraud committed in 2002 after original perpetrator fled the country decades ago avoiding conviction. It has taken 24 years for those who were defrauded to be repaid but at least they can expect a swift payment of £22,000 on average.

The recovery relates to money stolen by Abdullah Ali Jammal, a former director of a retail-depositor bank, Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon, which is currently sanctioned for terrorist funding.

Jammal operated the email fraud scheme from the UK between 2001 and 2002, securing over £4.4m from unfortunate victims, who were caught out when unsolicited emails landed in their inboxes, claiming to need their help to release substantial amounts of money from bank accounts in countries, including Nigeria, with the promise of a 10-25% commission in return. Back in the early 2000s, there were many of these scams doing the rounds, with one of the biggest dubbed the ‘Nigerian princes’ scheme.

Jammal lured them into transferring money to these foreign bank accounts for quick returns, but the money was never seen again. This advanced fee scheme defrauded 18 people, many of whom lost tens of thousands of pounds.

In 2021, when investigators determined that Jammal – who fled the country before being charged – could not realistically be convicted, the SFO decided the case’s circumstances merited an alternative approach to recovering money for victims.

So Jammal’s accounts were frozen using section 281 Proceeds of Crime Act 2022 (POCA), including over £150,000 sitting in an HSBC sterling account bound for the family-controlled Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon, which remains sanctioned by the US for facilitating banking for a terrorist organisation.

Investigators then spoke directly to victims around the world, working with police in Australia, Belgium and France, and the FBI in the US, with the support of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to locate the individuals and secure their consent for this action.

Nick Ephgrave, director of the SFO, said: ‘Fraud devastates lives and the SFO will pursue justice for victims using every tool at our disposal.

‘This groundbreaking case demonstrates that determination. After years of complex international investigation, we’re returning stolen money directly to the people who were defrauded.’