A FRAUDSTER from Bournemouth who stole another man’s identity over four years to get £45,000 in benefits has been jailed.

Olufemi Olanrewaju’s victim says having his identity hijacked was a “constant nightmare” and the stress broke up his marriage, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

Olanrewaju, 48, used Matthew Ogaro’s birth certificate and National Insurance number to falsely claim £28,000 in housing benefit and £16,280 in income support, rent a flat in Tregonwell Road and enrol at Bournemouth College.

Police uncovered the bogus claims, which ran from January 2006 to 2009, during a raid on Olanrewaju’s home.

A search also revealed 11 grammes of crack cocaine worth around £1,229 and 11 grammes of heroin valued at £1,189, prosecutor Chris Stopa said.

Olanrewaju pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of possessing Class A drugs last month.

The father-of-three was sentenced to 37 months in prison on Tuesday.

Bournemouth Borough Council has submitted a £28,000 claim for compensation and confiscation procedures will begin in the new year.

In mitigation, Rajinder Gill said the offences showed a degree of planning but were not that sophisticated.

Olanrewaju, who moved to the UK in 1982, turned to identity theft following treatment for drug addiction, he told the court.

Unemployed and with no means of claiming benefits, he needed to support his sick son, now 15, and recovering from leukaemia, a heart transplant and bone marrow transplant.

“Now is the time when he needs his father most,” Mr Gill said. “My client has turned his life around.

“He’s found fulltime employment and works as a mechanic.”

Judge John Harrow said: “The owner of this identity has been caused severe inconvenience and stress as a result of what’s happened.

“I accept you did not originally hijack his identity but subsequently you put it to bad use and this is an aggravating factor in my view.”

Fraud factfile

MORE than 1.8million people in the UK have their identity stolen every year, and it costs more than £2.7billion.

Identities and personal information are valuable, and criminals can use them to open bank accounts, get credit cards, loans, state benefits, passports and driving licences.

They often take documents from rubbish or get confidential information by pretending to be from a legitimate organisation.

Telltale signs that your identity has been stolen include: missing documents like passports or driving licences, post not arriving from your bank, items on bank or credit card statements that you don’t recognise and applying for benefits only to be told that you are already claiming.

Victims often only realise something is wrong when they are turned down for a credit card or loan despite having a good credit history or start receiving letters from solicitors or debt collectors for debts they know nothing about.

If you believe that someone has used your personal details, contact one of the three credit reference agencies, Callcredit, Experian or Equifax, for help.

Simple things like keeping PIN numbers secret, keeping documents in a safe place, shredding bank statements and using different passwords can help protect you.