A Mitcham man who toured with JLS and NDubz after a stint on X Factor was one of eight jailed for his part in “industrial scale” fraud that “callously and systematically” scammed elderly and vulnerable victims out of £1million.

Wimbledon Times:

Nathan Abraham Lauren Fagan-Gayle (pictured above), 29, of Mitcham was one of eight jailed for a total of 34 years on Wednesday, May 4.

Known as Starboy Nathan, he had Top 40 singles with 'Come into My Room' and 'Diamonds' and has more than 18,000 followers on Twitter.  

He appeared on X Factor in its ninth series in 2012 and later on Celebrity Big Brother. 

At the time the R&B singer/songwriter was praised by Gary Barlow, Tulisa and Louis Walsh for having an amazing voice. 

It has been reported the court heard he received £20,000 in his bank account from 73-year-old Elizabeth Curtis.

During the trial the court heard how the pensioner had been tricked into handing over the money by a fake police officer.

The Evening Standard reported he apologised to his elderly victim in court. 

Two other men were previously sentenced to a total of 28 months in April. An eleventh man is to be sentenced at the Old Bailey later this month.

Wimbledon Times:

The eight men sentenced for their roles in the £1million scam

The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) found that the scam involved members of the group working together to gain the trust of their victims – who were normally elderly or vulnerable adults – and persuade them to hand over cash to fake couriers.

The victims were led to believe these people were working for the police on secret investigations.

In one case, a 76-year-old woman from Poole, Dorset, was targeted by the group and defrauded of just over £135,000.

In another, a 94-year-old man from north-west London had £130,000 stolen after handing it over to the fraudsters.

One of the biggest ever courier fraud investigations carried out by UK police identified about 140 frauds and attempted courier frauds carried out by the group in Bedfordshire, Devon, Hertfordshire, Cornwall, Kent and London, the Old Bailey was told.

Speaking yesterday, Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met Counter Terrorism Command, said: "I'm pleased with the sentences handed down to the group today.

“They callously and systematically defrauded elderly people of their life-savings.

“Had we not arrested them and put them before the courts, the group may have gone on to defraud many more victims across the UK."

The investigation into the group was launched in December 2014 by detectives from the National Terrorism Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) - part of SO15 - when detectives carrying out a separate counter terrorism investigation noticed irregular bank transfers for large sums to an individual, who was later identified as having travelled to Syria.

When specialist officers from the NTFIU investigated further, they linked the payments to other members of the group.

Through their enquiries, officers began to link together several courier fraud offences across the country and they discovered 16 telephone lines the group used to make 5,695 calls to 3,774 different numbers across the UK.

Officers arrested a number of suspects between March and June 2015.

Six of the defendants pleaded guilty to either conspiracy to commit fraud or money laundering offences.

Five defendants denied the offences.

Four of these were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and one was found guilty of money laundering following trial at the Old Bailey on December 10, 2015.

The fifth was found guilty of money laundering at the Old Bailey on March 3, 2016.

Fagan-Gayle, from Mitcham, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison on May 4. He had pleaded not guilty to money laundering.

He was sentenced alongside seven other men at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Wimbledon Times:

Fahim Islam (pictured above), 21, of Monthope Road, Stepney, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

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Achmed Abdulaziz Ahmed (pictured above), 23, of Morgan Road, Holloway, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

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Makzhumi Abukar (pictured above), 24, of Holloway, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

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Anrul Islam (pictured above), 24, of Hedgemans Road, Dagenham, was sentenced to one year and one month in prison. He had pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud.

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Sakaria Aden (pictured above), 22, of Stoke Newington, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison. He had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

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Mohamed Dahir (pictured above), 23, of Finsbury Park, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. He had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

Wimbledon Times:

Yasser Abukar (pictured above), 24, of Holloway, was sentenced to six years in prison. He had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

Mohammed Youssifi, 38, of Fulham Road, West Brompton, was sentenced to 20 months in prison on September 8, 2015.

Mohammed Sharif Abokar, 28, of Islington, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on April 4, 2016.

The Met has the following advice for potential victims: - Police and banks will never ask for your PIN or bank card, so never give these to anyone.

- Nor will the police ask for money or for you to buy them items.

- If you are contacted by someone who asks for you to do any of these things, hang up.

- Use a different line to report it to police on 101 or allow at least five minutes for the line to automatically clear. Call 999 if the crime is in action.