May 2, 2007

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  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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