Suspended Sentence For Cynical Uber Driver Who Defrauded Blind Passenger

In Nick Of Time: Mihai Arrested Again

An Uber driver, who exploited a celebrated blind singer by using her phone to secretly give himself a £20 tip and 5-star rating, has received a suspended prison sentence.

Cornel Mihai, 32, tricked 39 year-old Victoria Oruwari into handing over her iPhone at the end of the £51 journey and awarded himself the bonus without her knowledge.

However, he did not walk free from Croydon Magistrates Court as detectives immediately arrested him after the hearing and he was taken into custody on other allegations.

“This is an offence of high culpability and harm. There are substantial aggravating factors,” said District Judge Susan Green.

“There is no doubt in my mind that your defence was properly rejected during your trial,” she told the married father-of-two. “You took advantage of a blind, vulnerable person who trusted you.

“If those people with disabilities and disadvantages cannot rely on the assistance of those around them then our society is in a sorry state.” 

Romanian-born Mihai, of Pettits Place, Dagenham fought the case, but was convicted of fraud by false representation.

Vulnerable: Victoria Oruwari

He was sentenced to five months imprisonment, suspended for twelve months, ordered to complete 240 hours community service and disqualified from driving for six months.

Mihai was also ordered to pay Ms Oruwari £200 compensation, plus the £20 tip, £775 court cost and a £122 victim surcharge.

Ms Oruwari was alone and desperate to get home from London Bridge Station at 10.00pm on June 29 last year and was forced to book the BMW Uber cab because there were no trains to East Croydon.

“It has reiterated the fact I am vulnerable and more susceptible to crime and being taken advantage of, but to lead a full life I have to trust people,” the soprano singer told the trial.

“That trust has been shaken, but I am determined to continue trusting in people,” added Ms Oruwari, who has performed at the Royal Opera House, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Guildhall London and international venues.

She was a finalist on BBC’s ‘All Together Now’ and has performed with the Birmingham City Orchestra, Perth City Orchestra and the Royal Navy Brass Band.

She told the court Mihai enquired about her sight loss during the journey, but he insisted this was not true. “I felt irritated because it was none of his business , but as I was in his car I thought it best to be polite.

“He said I was getting on with life well and was happy and I said: ‘Yes. There’s nothing to be sad about.’

“He told me he could not end the trip on his App and asked if could hand him my phone to end it. I thought it was a little odd, but there was nothing in his behaviour to make me think I wasn’t safe.

Uber Villain: Mihai

“I did not think anything fishy was going on, but I was handing him a lot of trust because of the information on the phone,” she told the court.

She turned off her phone’s screenreader function, which allows her to use it before handing it over to Mihai and only discovered the tip once she was home.

“I was shocked that I had been charged twice the fare, although I knew there would be a price surge, but also that the driver had been rated five-star and tipped twenty pounds.

“The only time I did not have the phone was when I gave it to him and had to switch off the screenreader so couldn’t hear what was happening.”

Uber immediately refunded Ms Oruwari the fare and reported Mihai to the police and removed him from their approved drivers’ database.

Mihai denied using Ms Oruwari’s iPhone. “I finished this journey on my phone,” he told the trial. “I want to work honestly.”

The court heard Mihai has lost his Private Hire Driver Licence and has not worked since the criminal proceedings began.

“You have shown no remorse at all for this offence,” the judge told Mihai. “I take into account your family, your children, a daughter aged six and a son, aged five, with health issues and your future employment prospects, which are especially dim and rightly so.

“You are saved from going to prison by your previous good character and the effect imprisonment would have on your wife and family.”