Nine people have been arrested over allegations of fraud in connection with the Grenfell Tower fire.<\/p>\n
Eight men and one woman were detained by officers during raids at about 07:00 BST at 11 addresses, mainly in west London, the Met Police said.<\/p>\n
In a briefing, the force said two of the people arrested are linked but that all of the alleged offences are separate.<\/p>\n
The value of the alleged frauds range from \u00a325,000 to \u00a3100,000.<\/p>\n
“All those arrests are in connection with what we believe to be fraudulent claims for housing and\/or support of one kind or another, arising out of false claims from people that they were associated with Grenfell Tower,” Det Supt Matt Bonner said.<\/p>\n
Three fraudsters have already been jailed for offences relating to the tower block fire in June last year that led to the deaths of 72 people.<\/p>\n
Joyce Msokeri\u00a0said she lost her husband and her home to the blaze to obtain donations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mohammad Gamoota\u00a0pretended a real victim of the fire was his father<\/a>\u00a0while Anh Nhu Nguyen made about \u00a312,500 by\u00a0pretending his wife and son had been killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two more people are due to be sentenced<\/a>\u00a0on 13 June after claiming to have lived on the 19th floor of the tower.<\/p>\n Responding to latest arrests, campaign group Grenfell United said there is “no place” for fraudsters in the tower block’s “good, decent” community.<\/p>\n Chair Shahin Sadafi added: “It is hurtful and saddening that people would take advantage of a tragedy like this.”<\/p>\n A public inquiry into the fire is under way.<\/p>\n Alongside that it was announced earlier that\u00a0police are investigating London Fire Brigade’s use of a “stay put” policy<\/a>\u00a0during the blaze.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n