A ZIMBABWEAN who was jailed for nine years in the United Kingdom in 2014 for cheque fraud, Charles Nyongo, is facing deportation amid claims by him that he will face persecution back home.

Nyongo and his fellow Zimbabwean, Onias Hove, were ringleaders of one of the UK’s largest ever cheque fraud gangs, who were sentenced to nine years in jail each at the Bradford Crown Court.

The sentence followed a nationwide police operation by the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) during which £6,5 million worth of stolen and fake cheques were seized.

The two of Hunslet, Leeds, led an organised criminal gang responsible for stealing and fraudulently manufacturing bank cheques.

Nyongo has since completed his sentence and is currently in the UK immigration detention awaiting deportation on March 2.

But Nyongo is resisting deportation, claiming his life would be in danger if he returns to Zimbabwe.

He argues that his wife and children were in the UK.

He claimed to have travelled to the UK on June 12, 2002 using a stolen passport after the government reportedly “stopped travel documents processing fearing opposition members would flea” the country.

According to court records, Nyongo and Hove’s sophisticated gang intercepted completed cheques in the post, which they then altered, or photographed blank ones using smartphones to capture the legitimate details which they used to create fake cheques.

Originating in Scotland, the group’s criminality spread throughout the country to London. The gang’s victims were widespread, but included hospices, schools, golf clubs and the elderly.

The stolen or fake cheques would be cashed through “mule” bank accounts — third party accounts which were usually held by students or more vulnerable members of society.

The police investigation, which began in April 2012, included officers from eight police forces across the country carrying out a number of coordinated raids.

During the property searches, officers seized almost 3 000 stolen or fake cheques, the most ever recorded by the banking industry, along with the specialist ink and paper used in their manufacture.

Police also uncovered computers with cheque templates and ready-made identity kits for “mules” to open false bank accounts. The recovered cheques had a total value of over £6,5 million. —Wires and STAFF WRITER