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£4m petrol station card cloners jailed

Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent
4 Jun 2009


Two men have been jailed for up to five years for a £4million credit card cloning scam at Shell petrol stations.

The Sri Lankan kiosk workers fitted skimming equipment and pinhole cameras at four garages to record bank details and Pins.

But the "sophisticated" fraud was uncovered after a manager found one of the devices in the ceiling, Southwark crown court heard.

The gang had spent tens of thousands of pounds setting up the operation.

Electronics expert Franco Pakiyanthur, 34, of Neasden, who claimed gang members got him drunk and forced him to install the system, was jailed for five years.

Shangmugianathan Partheepan, 32, of Hayes, who admitted his involvement two days into his trial and gave evidence for the prosecution, was jailed for 12 months. Failed asylum seeker Partheepan now has the right to remain in the UK as he has been here for 10 years.

In July 2007 a Shell manager noticed a camera at his store in Apsley, Hertfordshire. Devices were then found at garages run by the same franchise in nearby Adeyfield and in Hampshire.

Suman Uththamaputhiran, 25, who admitted fraud, faces sentence tomorrow. Two other men were cleared of all charges.

 

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