Two men have been found guilty of murdering a 71-year-old woman with a hairdryer cord and dumping her body in a bin in £4.6 million scam to steal her life savings.
Kusai Al-Jundi, 25, a chef, and delivery driver Mohamed El-Abboud, 28, were found guilty of murdering Louise Kam, 71 at the Old Bailey after luring her to a house she owned in Barnet.
Police said the pair strangled the woman after having “preyed on her” in a bid to “plunder” her life savings.
Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, of the Metropolitan Police, claimed the men were “driven by greed” as they also aimed to take ownership of her property.
He said: “Two young men have preyed on an elderly lady in order to try and plunder her life savings, and then take ownership of her property before unceremoniously dumping her in a rubbish bin.
“It was all driven by greed. Louise had money, she had cars, she had property and she had a life that both of those people wanted.
“And the only way for them to get that, they saw, was to kill Louise and then to send heartless messages to her friends and family pretending that she had fled to China.”
The mum-of-two, who worked in rentals, owned two properties in north London, the £1.3 million home in Barnet, and a shop with three flats in Willesden.
Oliver Glasgow KC, prosecuting, said Al-Jundi was “prepared to stop at nothing” to scam Ms Kam out of her property, and that El-Abboud, his best friend, was “more than happy” to help.
The court heard that a friend had first introduced Ms Kam to Al-Jundi, a chef at the Yasmeen Sham Restaurant in Willesden, who boasted of having a wealthy girlfriend named Anna.
He told the rentier that she was willing to put up £4.6 million to buy Ms Kam’s properties in a deal that would have involved avoiding tax.
