Des O’Connor falls prey to credit card fraudster
Des O’Connor is a national treasure. Loved by the millions of television viewers who catch his talk shows, game shows and magazine programmes, it was shocking to discover that an unscrupulous fraudster stole his credit card details.
Des O’Connor falls prey to credit card fraudster
Sales assistant Apalara was caught on camera entering a customer’s credit card number into his mobile phone while working on the till.”
Almost £1,000 of Des O’Connor’s money was stolen by a devious sales assistant during a fraud spree which cost innocent victims £169,000.
The thief, Olanrewaju Apalara, 26, used his mobile phone to take down the credit card details of his victims while they bought goods from him at a popular department store.
The fraudster
Working in the central London John Lewis store in 2005, Apalara took the details of customers before using them to buy goods over the Internet which he then had delivered to the homes of family and friends, whom he visited in order to collect the items. He also used the stolen money to pay off student loans.
Admitting to obtaining property by deception at Southwark Crown Court, Alpara also pleaded guilty of converting the proceeds of criminal property.
He described how he took the card details before going home and registering them under false names and using them to buy goods.
The evidence
Apalara was caught on camera by police in 2005 as he entered a customer’s number into his mobile phone while working on the till.
But he gave the police two false addresses and led them on a wild goose chase before finally being arrested. The 26-year-old also refused to answer questions which slowed the case down.
Ben Douglas-Jones, for the prosecution, said: “At his home police seized a number of items, including computers which showed the transactions. They also found evidence of a money transfer to someone in Lagos, Nigeria.”
Police discovered he had made a total of 907 online transactions with stolen card details and had used the card details of Des O’Connor to purchase £2,500 worth of items.
Only £901 worth had been delivered to him before he was captured by the police.
Arrogance and justice
Mr Douglas-Jones described Apalara as "arrogant" and explained that was the determining factor in his capture.
As time went on Apalara became increasingly confident he wouldn’t be caught for his crimes and he began to use the name "Killer Fraud" when opening his fake accounts.
Over the nine months of his crime spree, the fraudster used 183 different credit card details and it is believed that had he not been caught he could have stolen £300,000.
Passing sentence on Alpalara, Judge Anthony Pitts said: "It is a tragedy and it is sad to see someone of your intelligence and ability in front of the court on serious charges of dishonesty."
He also highlighted the fraudster's desire to become debt free was no excuse for his "flagrant abuse of trust" and described his actions as "determined and serious fraud".
Apalara was jailed for 18 months.
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