Cashier jailed for £300,000 petrol station fraud

Editors’ Comment: Credit Card fraud is one of the activities of the underworld operations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. There may be independent operators too. In the early 1970s the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran began his activities indulging in bank robberies and this culture has grown amomg many young people as a kind of quick fix to riches. Tiger terrorism will be overcome in Sri Lanka but it taken roots in many countries in the West especially Canada, United Kingdom, France and Switzerland.

(May 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A cashier has been jailed after more than 1,000 credit and debit cards were cloned at a Northampton petrol station, netting international fraudsters at least £300,000. Suntharam Thevaratnam, 33, turned off CCTV cameras and allowed a bug to be placed inside the Chip and PIN machine at the Shell garage on the A45 near Wootton.

The Sri Lankan-born Tamil was employed as a night shift cashier when police began investigating more than 1,000 complaints of card 'skimming'.

At Northampton Crown Court yesterday, he was jailed for three years having pleaded guilty to fraud.

Rebecca Crane, prosecuting, said: "This case involves the skimming of credit and debit card details in the UK and substantial usage by others of at least £300,000. It may well be more."

A police investigation began in January when the petrol station's customers noticed unauthorised withdrawals from their card accounts.

Miss Crane said: "These took place in various countries around the world – in Canada, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

"Cards were cloned with the details having been put on a magnetic strip. Regular customers expressed their concerns to the manager who already had his own concerns."

Police found that between September and December last year, the garage's CCTV cameras had been shut down on several occasions for up to 10 minutes a time.

Thevaratnam, of Birchfield Road, Abington, claimed to have been threatened with shooting by a man named Jaden who he had allowed in to install a bug.

Miss Crane added: "The Crown says there was absolutely no need to have let him in as employees sit behind thick glass, the doors are locked and there are two panic buttons in the kiosk."

Sentencing, Judge Peter Ross said: "You were at the start of this process which led to enormous fraud. Your position, although at one level is perhaps seen as a minor cog in the machine, was absolutely crucial.

"The prevalence of this sort of offending and the huge rewards for criminal gangs means this court will pass a deterrent sentence.

"Others must understand the sort of sentence which will be imposed even for the lowest level of operator.

Richard Holloway, mitigating, said Thevaratnam, who is now a British national, had not profited from the frauds.

He added: "He's certainly not the brightest man and that may be why he was persuaded."

-Sri Lanka Guardian