54-year old Nigerian, Abolaji Onafuye convicted in UK for falsely claiming that his family died in Grenfell Tower fire

Abolaji Onafuye, 54, a Nigerian who claimed his sister and nephew died in the Grenfell Tower fire to secure accommodation and more than £40,000 has been convicted of fraud.

Onafuye who is from Hammersmith, west London, claimed the cash after telling volunteers he was related to two real victims of the fire. He was put up in a hotel for nearly a year before being moved to a flat.

Onafuye denied fraud, but was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court of two counts of frauds by false representation. He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 18 December.

The fire on 14 June 2017 in Kensington killed 72 people. Prosecutor Michael Phillips, said: “Abolaji Onafuye had no connections to the Grenfell Tower tragedy but saw an opportunity to benefit himself, both financially and with accommodation.

“Our prosecution was able to prove he had repeatedly and intentionally lied and that his post-arrest story that it had all been an innocent mistake was just an attempt to escape the consequences of his cruel deception.”