Leslie Danso, a smooth-talking, self-made celebrity tailor with a champagne lifestyle to match has been jailed in UK.
Danso, 39, posed as the dapper proprietor of Qumi Couture, a bespoke menswear store. On his website, he described himself as ‘ever the sharp dresser’ and ‘a man going places’.
His shop outfitted clients for racing at Ascot and gala dinners, and his tailoring even featured in the pages of GQ Magazine.
But
it all collapsed after police uncovered a chain of drug safe-houses rented in
false names across south-east London.
In 2013 they found two flats in Rotherhithe rented under the fake names George Branson and Adam Smith.
At one, they found crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis, cash and ammunition, and at the second a man was caught red-handed cutting up heroin.
Investigators learned that Danso had rented both flats and also used the names Kevin Walters and Kevin Reece.
Eventually, police linked him to at least eight safe-houses in central London and affluent suburbs such as Sidcup and Bexleyheath.
Last May he was arrested at his luxury four-bedroom home in Dartford, Kent, where his designer clothes filled the entire loft conversion.
The same day, officers found cash and more than a kilo of heroin and crack at a flat he rented in Bermondsey.
In 2013 they found two flats in Rotherhithe rented under the fake names George Branson and Adam Smith.
At one, they found crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis, cash and ammunition, and at the second a man was caught red-handed cutting up heroin.
Investigators learned that Danso had rented both flats and also used the names Kevin Walters and Kevin Reece.
Eventually, police linked him to at least eight safe-houses in central London and affluent suburbs such as Sidcup and Bexleyheath.
Last May he was arrested at his luxury four-bedroom home in Dartford, Kent, where his designer clothes filled the entire loft conversion.
The same day, officers found cash and more than a kilo of heroin and crack at a flat he rented in Bermondsey.
The
Ghanaian celebrity designer now faces being deported, for the second time –
after he was jailed for fraud and using counterfeit documents.
Victims
said that he was ‘well-educated, smooth-talking and arrogant’, and he begged
police not to tell anyone about his arrest – while boasting that other inmates
in Belmarsh Prison were in ‘awe’ of his clothes.
DC Jenny Woodward, who led the inquiry, said she had no doubt that other victims have yet to come forward.
Danso claimed he did not know the rented flats were used to store drugs, and was not charged with any offences linked to the raids.
But he was jailed for 14 months after admitting 11 counts of fraud and manufacturing and possession of false documents at a hearing last month.
The judge at Woolwich Crown Court ordered two counts of theft to remain on file.
DC Jenny Woodward, who led the inquiry, said she had no doubt that other victims have yet to come forward.
Danso claimed he did not know the rented flats were used to store drugs, and was not charged with any offences linked to the raids.
But he was jailed for 14 months after admitting 11 counts of fraud and manufacturing and possession of false documents at a hearing last month.
The judge at Woolwich Crown Court ordered two counts of theft to remain on file.
Leslie
Danso kitted out his famous clients for red carpet film premieres, TV shows and
society weddings.He posed for pictures with actor Idris Elba and his customers included former England footballer Emile Heskey and ex-Premier League star Fabrice Muamba.
His boutique near London’s Tower Bridge was a vanity venture funded by his life of crime, and he even fraudulently leased six top-of-the-range BMWs.
Photographs found on his computer suggest Danso bought properties in Ghana.
Source: Mail Online
