Parking Meter Scammer Shot Dead Over £250,000 Debt

A Kosovan parking meter criminal was shot dead over a £250,000 debt by an associate now starting a life sentence.

Cima Sogojeva, 27, (pic. top) made a fortune ripping-off London Borough of Westminster meters and gave the cash to 32 year-old fellow-countryman Lundrim Gjikokaj (pic. bottom) for safe keeping.

Gjikokaj, of Western Elms Avenue, Reading, Berkshire executed Mr. Sogojeva at his Golders Green flat, shooting him three times in the back and head, also stabbing the victim.

Mr. Sogojeva lost £177,000 when police raided a security box he stashed some of his criminal fortune in and fearing more raids handed the rest of his loot to the defendant.

They met in Caroline Court, Highfield Road on October 6, 2008, but instead of returning the money Gjikokaj murdered his one-time associate and fled the scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Duffield, of the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: “Lundrim Gjikokaj presented a carefully crafted alibi to the police after his arrest, cynically claiming that he had been elsewhere at the time, and that he had been a 'close friend' of the victim and claimed to be 'heartbroken' at hearing of Cima's demise.

“A detailed investigation established that Gjikokaj, a compulsive gambler, had in fact meticulously planned the fatal events, and his motivation was purely to avoid paying a significant and rapidly escalating debt.

“Faced with the prospect of having to answer difficult questions during the trial, he refused to give evidence to the jury.”

During a four-week Old Bailey trial the court heard that at 11:15am police received a 999 call by a member of the public, stating that they had heard shots fired at an address in Highfield Road.

Officers and paramedics attended and found Mr. Sogojeva collapsed with gun shot and knife wounds inside the address. He was pronounced dead at the scene.




Detectives established Gjikokaj had continually dodged Cima because of a financial debt thought to be in the region of £250,000.

Following a detailed enquiry into his movements it was established that he had met Mr. Sogojeva at the victim's home address on the morning of the murder.

A search of the crime scene and wider area identified crucial forensic evidence linking Gjokokaj to the shooting.

He will serve a minimum of twenty-eight years imprisonment before he can be considered for parole.