Oyewor's case was heard at Maidstone Crown Court (above)

by Julia Roberts

An internet cafe owner has denied laundering more than £1.3million using false passports and other identification documents.

Peter Oyewor, who worked as a Western Union money transfer agent from his business premises in Gravesend, told a jury that all the information he used to carry out transactions was given to him by his customers.

The 49-year-old said he had no reason to suspect any were acting unlawfully, he abided by all procedures governing the sending and receiving of money both abroad and into the UK, and that all the transfers he arranged were approved by Western Union.

It is alleged by the prosecution, however, that Oyewor, of Grieves Road, Gravesend, repeatedly “flouted the rules” to allow criminal funds to come into the UK and then be forwarded on to other countries.

Maidstone Crown Court heard at the start of his trial last week that £92,700 worth of money transfers carried out at Benson Logistics in Manor Road between July and September 2010 were arranged using false passport details.

A further £1.25million worth of transfers carried out at his second Internet cafe in Plumstead, south east London, between 2007 and 2010 are also alleged to have been carried out using fake identification details.

Instead of money being physically handed over to legitimate customers, Oyewor is accused of making up “phantom” customers and then simply forwarding the money electronically to another country.

Many of the transfers originated from the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe and were then mostly sent on to Africa.

Oyewor denies transferring criminal property between July 2007 and September 2010.

The jury has heard that when a customer sends money to another via Western Union, he is given a reference number. Anyone receiving the money must have knowledge of the same reference number.

Giving evidence Oyewor told the court of the importance of checking a customer’s details.

“You had to be sure of the customer’s details because there’s no way the customer could have the details without contact with the sender - the details of the sender and the exact amount,” he explained.

“It’s only you and the sender who can know the exact amount you are receiving. If the person gives you the wrong amount it is suspicious.

“There’s no way the receiver can know the amount and the full details of the sender without getting in touch.

“The key thing (for an agent) is to get the full information (from the receiving customer) and then for the computer to approve it. I am just like a messenger. I put in the details and then wait for the computer to give authorisation.”

He later added: “It’s not down to me. I cannot pay it to the customer without Western Union approval.

“I am not the one who decides payment. I put it into the computer for authorisation.”

The court heard that copies of false passports and driving licences were found at his home.

But Oyewor maintained they all came from real and not phantom customers.
He also denied being responsible for transactions where customers used passports bearing female names but male photographs.

“There’s no way someone can bring that sort of identification to me and I do that transaction,” he said.

The jury has been told that, despite his alleged “useful role” for the criminal fraternity, he was not responsible for any of the crimes which generated the money.

The trial continues.