High-class escort agency boss jailed after funding lavish lifestyle through tax dodging and benefit fraud

Jailed: Mother-of-five Janine Adeleke
HMRC
Robin de Peyer13 November 2015
WEST END FINAL

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An escort agency boss funded a lavish lifestyle and sent her children to elite private schools by dodging tax and claiming benefits.

Mother-of-five Janine Adeleke, 43, raked in handouts from the state while running Carltons of London, which describes itself as the capital’s “finest luxury boutique escort service”.

One of her children was reportedly sent to an exclusive private school – which charges fees of up to £30,000 a year – and her family enjoyed top-end gym membership and private medical care.

In total, she spent a staggering £120,000 on private schools between November 2006 and January 2014, as well as shelling out tens of thousands of pounds for beauty treatments and holidays.

Adeleke funded the luxurious lifestyle by running the agency offering the “finest London escorts for gentlemen of distinction” from her home in Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex.

'High class agency': Carltons of London

She used her elderly mother’s bank account to launder £157,000 in a scam which saw her hide a total of £650,000 from the taxman. There is no suggestion her mother knew what was going on.

The HMRC said she stole more than £300,000 in unpaid income tax, National Insurance Contributions and Tax Credit Payments, as well as claiming more than £37,000 in income support.

Adeleke was today jailed for three years after being found guilty of money laundering, cheating the public revenue, and Tax Credits and benefit fraud at Canterbury Crown Court, the HMRC said.

Richard Las, Deputy Director of the HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service said: “Adeleke broke the law to fund a lavish lifestyle and private education for her children, stealing money from vital public services designed to support and help struggling families.

“Adeleke claimed to be penniless, but this was far from the truth,” he added.

Confiscation proceedings have started to reclaim the money stolen by Adeleke, the HMRC said.

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