Police bust fake credit card factory

Two fraudsters who ran a lucrative credit card factory and were found with a hoard of jewellery, gold ingots and antique stamps have been sentenced today, 15 September, to a total of over five years in prison.

Following an investigation by the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) and the Westminster Police Chinese Unit, a factory manufacturing counterfeit payment cards was discovered at a flat in Hornsey Road, Haringey.

Items recovered included thermal printers to produce counterfeit cards, plastic cards and holograms. In addition, over £10,000 in cash, gold ingots and other gold jewellery valued at between £8,000 and £10,000 was seized. A list of a number of stolen account numbers was also found at the address - 250 of them were already encoded onto the counterfeit cards and police recovered a further 450 compromised card details.

Southwark Crown Court heard how officers launched a proactive investigation into 28-year-old Cheng Chee Weng and 39-year-old Gabriel Yew, in March this year following their arrest by Westminster Police's Chinese Unit.

A plain clothes officer from the Westminster Chinese Unit was on patrol in Chinatown, central London, on 31 March this year, when he noticed a man handing over a sum of money in exchange for an envelope. He approached both men and asked them what they were doing. They offered no explanation for their actions so the officer opened the envelope, finding 11 counterfeit credit cards.

Both men ran off, but the officer gave chase to one, Weng.  When he caught up with him, Weng was found with 11 blank plastic cards on him and he was arrested on suspicion of possessing articles for use in fraud. The DCPCU were then called in for their expert assistance

Enquiries resulted in DCPCU officers searching a flat in Eagle House, Hornsey Road, Haringey. The flat belonged to Yew, who was identified as the man seen taking the brown envelope in return for a bundle of £20 notes in Chinatown. In Yew's flat, police found a locked room downstairs, where a fully working counterfeit credit card factory was housed. Yew was arrested following this discovery.

Further searches by the DCPCU on 1 April revealed that Yew was the mastermind behind the factory and that he had been using the counterfeit cards to purchase luxurious goods such as computer handsets, iPhones, expensive whisky, jewellery and other items up to the value of £300,000. Weng was responsible for running errands as instructed by Yew.

Any assets or cash obtained through their criminal activity will now be subject to confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

Detective Inspector Dee Bain, from the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, said of today's result:

"This case has come to a successful conclusion after only six months of investigation. This is testament to the exemplary partnership work that went on between the specialist detectives in the DCPCU and the Westminster Police Chinese Unit based at Charing Cross police station.

"During the past eight years the DCPCU has prevented an estimated £340 million of card and cheque fraud, and has been integral to the reduction in overall card fraud losses, which fell by 28 per cent last year."

Details of defendants:
Gabriel Yew, 39 yrs, a bar manager of Eagle House, Hornsey Road, Haringey pleaded guilty on 14 July to conspiracy to defraud, supplying articles for use in fraud and money laundering. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Cheng Chee Weng, 28 yrs, a chef of no fixed abode pleaded guilty on 14 July to conspiracy to defraud and supplying articles for use in fraud. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.