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May 2, 2007
NEWS: Crooks Could Have Scammed £17m
British Transport Police recently
released more details of the would-be credit
card scam that could have become the U.K.’s
biggest ever. Southwark Crown Court heard
earlier this week how the “highly organized”
crime ring was nabbed in the midst of a routine
anti-terrorism investigation. The BTP believe
that the group was poised to garner some £17
million as a result of the proposed swindle.
Of the members apprehended, Dariusz Zyla, aged
30, Roman Zykin, aged 38, and Krzysztof Rogalski,
aged 31, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy
to steal and conspiracy to transfer criminal
property. This trio are being held pending a
trial which was due to start earlier this week.
Hannes Pajasalu, aged 34, appeared in court
Friday and admitted conspiracy to transfer
criminal property. A fifth accomplice,
Malgorzata Zykin, aged 41, pleaded guilty to
transferring criminal property and was sentenced
to six months in prison earlier this week.
The international gang was found out when a
deputy on standard patrol stopped Zyla and
discovered that he was carrying some 40 prepaid
mobile phone top up cards encoded with details
of some forty stolen credit cards at Victoria
Station in London. It seems that the gang were
cloning stolen American card numbers for the
purpose of living a life of ill-gotten luxury,
say police. They had managed to already make off
with more than £150,000 – but the BTP stated the
belief that, had the gang not been caught, the
figure could have climbed as high as £17
million.
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