Refugee jailed for £40,000 benefit fraud is actually famous music icon known as the Somalian Phil Collins
Mohamed Qoomaal has performed to sell-out crowds worldwide, including Wembley in 2006 and 2012, in a career spanning three decades
A REFUGEE jailed for a £40,000 benefits fiddle is a music icon known as the Somalian Phil Collins.
Crooner Mohamed Qoomaal, 72, has performed to sell-out crowds worldwide in a showbiz career spanning three decades.
A source said of the singer, who played Wembley in 2006 and 2012: “This guy is huge in Africa. No one can believe the news about his imprisonment.”
Qoomaal moved here 15 years ago to escape civil war but returned to Mogadishu in 2013.
TV crews filmed him kissing the airport tarmac before he was led to a celebration bash with government officials.
But Qoomaal still milked the UK taxpayer.
Pension credit payments were wired to him while a pal lived rent-free in his council-funded home in Harrow, North West London.
His lawyers said Qoomaal became fed up with the British weather — but his celebrity status was not mentioned.
He was jailed for 15 months — with our exclusive story on Saturday reported widely throughout African media.
The respected Awdal Media website said: “UK court sentences our biggest artist to 15 months.”