Two Nigerians living in the UK, Olatunde Emmanuel Lawal and Abraham George(pictured) have been jailed after they were found guilty of stealing credit card details and used them to live a lavish lifestyle way beyond their means – buying designer clothes, expensive TVs, and one of them had a luxury wedding.
Manchester Evening News reports that police believe Abraham George used the compromised cards to fund a luxury wedding at the Davenport Green Hotel in Hale Barns, Cheshire.
When officers raided his home they discovered a number of pre-paid cards which had been topped up using compromised credit card details – and receipts from fraudulent transactions lying around the house.
They also discovered Jimmy Choo shoes, Gucci handbags, Chanel sunglasses – along with high-value electrical items in every room and £560 worth of booze fraudulently bought from Waitrose.
Manchester Crown Court heard how George, who worked for a cleaning company, had cooked up the scheme with unemployed Olatunde Emmanuel Lawal at church.
The pair swindled £60,000 using compromised credit cards – with Lawal being paid £50 for each of the transactions by George.
They both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and money laundering – and today George, 37, was jailed for two years.
Lawal was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment – suspended for two years – with 200 hours unpaid work.
Police said the pair used a compromised Hilton Honours credit card issued by Barclaycard to a genuine cardholder to make more than 40 transactions in May 2012. In total, £32,950 was spent, mainly at Co-op supermarkets in the West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester areas.
George and Lawal also used a compromised Natwest card to rack up transactions of more than £25,000. The genuine cardholder reported that in September 2012 someone accessed her online banking, changed her passwords and made several unauthorised withdrawals on her account.
Source: Manchester Evening News
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/fraudster-lived-lavish-lifestyle-gucci-8416207
