Starboy Nathan caught in fraud row after allegedly receiving £20k in scam targeting pensioners

Nathan Fagan Gayle, 29 appeared on the ninth series of the ITV show, before missing out on the live shows at Judges’ Houses

Former X Factor contestant accused of receiving £20k

A former X Factor star has been accused of receiving £20,000 from alleged fraudsters who are claimed to have scammed up to £1million from pensioners in a phone ‘phishing’ scam, a court heard.

Nathan Fagan Gayle, 29, who appeared on the ninth series of the ITV show, is claimed to have received the money in his Barclays Bank account on 29 May last year.

The cash was allegedly swiped from Elizabeth Curtis, who lost £130,000 in a large scale fraud committed against victims as old as 94 from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Beds, London and Kent.

Eight men are alleged to have plotted with others to pull off the scam by telephoning people claiming to be from law enforcement agencies to inform them they had been the victims of fraud.

Nathan Fagan Gayle on the X Factor

The victims were then claimed to have been duped into transferring money to bank accounts or withdrawing cash to hand over to the alleged fraudsters.

R&B singer Nathan-Gayle is one of five men accused of laundering the funds.

The singer denies the charge and is due to face trial on 2 November.

Surrey singer Gayle faces a six to eight week trial alongside others accused of being connected with the alleged scam.

The former X Factor finalist allegedly received £20,000

Makhzumi Abukar, 23, Zinal Hoque, 21, Mohamed Dahir, 23, Ibrahim Farah, 22, all from north London, and Sakaria Aden, 21, of Stoke Newington, have pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud between 1 May 2012 and 7 May 2015.

Yasser Abukar, 23 and Achmed Ahmed, 22 are yet to enter pleas to the same charge, while Fahim Islam, 20, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at the end of the trial.

Warsame Sheik, 29 and Mohammed Abokar deny converting criminal property along with Fagan-Gayle.

Anrul Islam, 23, and Mohammed Youssfi, 37, have pleaded guilty to converting criminal property.

Youssfi also admitted two counts of fraud relating to a student loans scam, while Anrul Islam pleaded guilty to fraud for failing to inform the student loan company he had stopped attending his course.

Who is Nathan? A look at his career in the limelight

Before featuring on the X Factor, Nathan landed a support slot on an N-Dubz tour.

Nathan-Gayle was ejected from the Simon Cowell-fronted talent show after reaching the judges’ houses stage during the 2012 series that saw James Arthur ultimately crowned the winner.

He has a couple of minor hits under the name Starboy Nathan.