Community sentence for eBay fraudster after £10,500 scam

Published on Thursday 3 May 2007 00:12

A SCOTTISH computer student who conned buyers in the United States out of thousands of pounds by placing bogus adverts on eBay was yesterday spared a jail sentence.

Imran Akram, 27, pocketed 10,500 after advertising expensive electrical equipment on the internet auction site. He said he set up the scam to pay off university debts.

Akram took money from buyers in California and Ohio after advertising 1,000 laptop computers and PlayStation games he did not have.

But he was tracked down after 42 complaints from customers who never received the goods they paid for. Eventually the FBI became involved in the search for the former Heriot Watt computer science student.

Akram ran the scam after opening up an account with PayPal in October 2003.

Min Joo, Arnel Cauguiran and Christopher Lincoln, all from California, and Stephanie Taylor, from Ohio, were among the many who responded to the fake adverts and paid for the electrical goods through Akram's PayPal account.

"He received payments for a number of items he was allegedly selling on eBay," Gillian More, the fiscal-depute, told Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday. "Over the next few months 42 complaints were made to PayPal about non-delivery. The loss fell to PayPal, which reimbursed the customers."

The eBay account company tried to contact Akram, of Mortonhall Park Loan, Edinburgh, but he failed to respond.

He was reported to the FBI in the US and to the Scottish police. Investigations showed he had received 10,500 by fraud.

On 10 November, 2005, he was interviewed by Lothian and Borders Police and admitted setting up the scam.

He confessed to conning the overseas buyers out of the money, which he used to pay off a university debt. He said that once that was done he had ended the fraud.

Akram immediately told the defence agent, Ewen Roy, that he wanted to plead guilty, alleviating the need for American witnesses to travel to Scotland for the trial.

Mr Roy said Akram, a first offender, had remortgaged his house and repaid the sum in full to PayPal.

He said Akram had given up his degree course to work for his father, whose retail business was failing. His father had since suffered a stroke, and Akram and his wife now supported both his parents, the lawyer said.

Akram, now a full-time company administrator, was spared jail yesterday when the sheriff, Elizabeth Jarvie, QC, instead ordered him to carry out 225 hours of community service.

"This was a serious offence, but you are a first offender, you made full repayment, you immediately admitted the crime and you have not come to the attention of the police since. For these reasons I am prepared to deal with this by way of a community-based order," she said.