A London-based nurse currently serving an 18-year prison term for trafficking Nigerian women to Europe and forcing them into sex work has been ordered to hand over almost £184,000.
Josephine Iyamu ("voodoo nurse", 54, was the first British national to be convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for offences committed overseas, in a landmark prosecution led by the National Crime Agency in 2018.
She was born in Liberia, but became a British citizen in 2009 having been allowed to stay in the UK due to her nursing qualifications.
Her husband, 60-year-old Efe Ali-Imaghodor, was acquitted of doing acts intending to pervert the course of justice.
Iyamu was handed a confiscation order totalling £183,806.06 at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday 4 March.
The confiscation amount took into account her available assets, which include a large house in Benin City, Nigeria, where she employed household staff.
If she fails to pay the full sum within three months, she will serve an additional two years in prison and still be liable for the money.
Confiscation orders are a key tool providing us with the capability to really hit criminals where it hurts - in the pocket. Iyamu was manipulative and motivated by money. Not only is she serving a hefty prison sentence, but she won’t be living a luxury lifestyle when she comes out.
The NCA’s investigation into Iyamu began in July 2017 following information from the German Police who had identified one of her victims working in a bro*thel in Trier.
After locating Iyamu, AKA Madame Sandra, in London, NCA investigators worked with the Nigerian Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to look into her activities in Nigeria.
Enquiries identified that she had positioned herself as a rich and powerful woman in Nigeria and had launched a political campaign, through which she claimed she wanted to empower women and families.
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