Fraudster sentenced to three years for £95,000 fraud
A fraudster who was the target in two separate police investigations has been jailed for three years following a Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) investigation. Morad Limlahi, aged 27, of east London, was subject to two separate DCPCU investigations for stealing card details from customers at the shop on Oxford Street where he worked.
He used the details to load funds onto travel money cards, which were then used to purchase luxury goods from pawn shops. When he has arrested investigators from DCPCU found Limlahi had stolen the details of 139 cards, issued by a number of banks and card issuers. Limlahi stole confidential customer account details while an employee at a Vodafone store in Oxford Street.
The stolen card details were used to make purchases online and Limlahi was reported to the DCPCU after Vodafone and HSBC provided evidence which showed he was the common point of compromise for a number of bank cards in which fraud had occurred. In a separate DCPCU investigation, Limlahi was arrested for using compromised bank cards to load £5,000 onto a travel money card. An accomplice of Limlahi’s used the travel money card to buy phones and gold jewellery from two pawnbrokers; CCTV showed Limlahi was present at both scenes.
The compromised bank card used to load funds onto the travel money card belonged to a customer Limlahi had served at Vodafone. Limlahi committed fraud worth £95,000 and attempted a further £96,000, with the crimes committed between October 2012 and October 2014.
He pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of a position of trust at the Old Bailey and was sentenced today (1 August 2016). Det Insp Sarah Ward, of the DCPCU, said: “Would-be fraudsters need to know many organisations are looking out for their criminal activity and will ensure they are brought to justice. “The sentence given to Morad Limlahi shows there is no defence for abusing a position of trust and the police, banks, businesses and other organisations will do everything they can to identify and prosecute fraudsters.”
Established in April 2002, the DCPCU has since achieved an estimated £479 million in savings from reduced fraud activity.
