Luciana and Femi Akanbi are both in prison after being sentenced to three years and nine months each at Woolwich Crown Court in April 2026. The couple were convicted of orchestrating a sophisticated insider fraud against Transport for London (TfL), using stolen employee data to submit fraudulent tax rebate claims to HMRC worth almost £650,000. The judge described it as the worst data breach in TfL’s history.

Who Are Luciana and Femi Akanbi?

Luciana Akanbi, aged 38, worked as a human resources officer at Transport for London, the public body responsible for managing London’s transport network. Her role gave her legitimate access to the personal records of TfL employees, including sensitive identity documents, financial details, and National Insurance information.

Her husband, Femi Akanbi, was not employed by TfL but played a key role in the fraud by helping to orchestrate the money-laundering operation through which the stolen funds were channelled. Prosecutors established that the couple acted together in a coordinated and premeditated scheme, taking advantage of Luciana’s privileged access to employee data.

Investigators later found that the couple used 38 different computer devices to conduct the fraud and launder the proceeds — a level of technical sophistication that pointed to careful planning rather than opportunistic theft.

How Did the TfL Fraud Work?

The scheme centred on Luciana Akanbi’s position in TfL’s human resources department. Using her legitimate system access, she harvested personal data from the records of TfL colleagues — information that would ordinarily only be used for employment and payroll purposes.

The couple then used that data to submit 139 fraudulent tax rebate claims to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). By impersonating TfL employees, they were able to claim tax refunds to which they had no entitlement, funnelling the money into accounts they controlled through a complex laundering network designed to obscure the source of the funds.

The fraud ran between September 2021 and January 2022 — a period of approximately four months during which the couple systematically exploited the data of dozens of TfL staff members. The scale and ambition of the operation led the sentencing judge to describe it as the worst insider data breach TfL had ever experienced.

What Data Was Stolen?

The personal information accessed and exploited during the fraud included passport details, National Insurance numbers, and bank account information belonging to TfL employees. Prosecutors said the data of at least 40 employees was directly used to submit fraudulent claims, though the breach affected a larger number of staff whose records were accessed without authorisation.

The attempted value of the fraudulent HMRC rebate claims totalled almost £650,000. Of this, approximately £433,000 was successfully extracted from the public purse before the fraud was detected. Investigators subsequently traced around £66,000 to Femi Akanbi’s bank account and approximately £16,000 to Luciana’s account, with the remainder having been moved through the wider laundering network.

Femi Akanbi’s defence cited a gambling addiction that had developed following illness during the COVID-19 pandemic as contributing to the couple’s financial pressures and motivation to commit the fraud.

Conviction and Sentence

The couple were convicted following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court and sentenced in April 2026. Judge David Miller sentenced both Luciana and Femi Akanbi to three years and nine months in custody. There was no distinction in the length of the sentences despite the different roles each played, reflecting the view of the court that both were equally culpable in the overall scheme.

Judge Miller described the case as the worst data breach in TfL’s history, noting the damage done not only to the organisation’s finances but to the individuals whose personal information had been exploited without their knowledge or consent. TfL employees whose data was stolen had no involvement in the fraud and had no way of knowing that their personal records were being used for criminal purposes.

Impact on TfL and Its Employees

The discovery of the fraud prompted Transport for London to undertake a comprehensive review and overhaul of its internal data systems and access controls. The case highlighted the risks posed by insider threats — situations where employees with legitimate access to sensitive data misuse that access for personal gain.

For the TfL employees whose personal details were used in the fraud, the experience raised significant concerns about identity theft and the security of their financial information. The submission of fraudulent tax claims in their names could have had wider consequences for their personal tax records had the claims not been identified and reversed.

This case serves as a reminder of the serious consequences of data misuse and financial fraud in the UK. Those convicted of fraud offences face significant custodial sentences, and the courts take a particularly dim view of offences that involve a breach of trust in a position of employment. If you have a family member serving a prison sentence, Prisonguide.co.uk provides information on how to book a prison visit, how to send money to a prisoner, and how the Parole Board considers release decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are Luciana and Femi Akanbi in prison?

Luciana and Femi Akanbi are in prison because they were convicted of running a large-scale fraud against Transport for London and HMRC. Luciana used her position as a TfL HR officer to steal the personal data of colleagues, and the couple used that data to submit 139 fraudulent tax rebate claims worth almost £650,000. They were each sentenced to three years and nine months in custody at Woolwich Crown Court in April 2026.

How much money did the Akanbi TfL fraud involve?

The couple attempted to claim almost £650,000 in fraudulent tax rebates using stolen TfL employee data. Approximately £433,000 was successfully taken before the fraud was uncovered. The money was laundered through a network of accounts using 38 different computer devices.

What role did Luciana Akanbi play in the fraud?

Luciana Akanbi worked as a human resources officer at TfL and used her legitimate system access to harvest sensitive personal information from at least 40 colleagues. This included passport details, National Insurance numbers, and bank account information, which was then used to make fraudulent HMRC tax rebate claims in those employees names.

What did the judge say about the TfL fraud?

Judge David Miller, who sentenced both defendants at Woolwich Crown Court, described the case as the worst data breach in TfL’s history. He noted that TfL was forced to overhaul its internal systems as a result of the fraud, and that the breach had caused serious harm to the staff members whose personal data had been exploited without their knowledge.

How long are Luciana and Femi Akanbi’s prison sentences?

Both Luciana and Femi Akanbi were sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. Under standard sentencing arrangements in England and Wales, they will typically be eligible for release at the halfway point of their sentence, subject to licence conditions set by the Probation Service.