Card scam fraudster jailed for 'campaign of greed'

ONE of the most prolific card fraudsters in Britain has been jailed for four and a half years.

Theogenes De Montford, 29, was at the centre of a gang that could have made millions of pounds of profit from its nationwide scam, Southwark Crown Court, in London, heard.

Recorder Nicholas Rhodes, QC, told the software engineering graduate: "The motivating factor was greed and the huge profits you could make with your skills from this crime."

De Montford used those skills to modify PIN machines at petrol stations.

Adam Budworth, prosecuting, said: "He was perhaps one of the most prolific chip and PIN fraudsters in the UK.

"Since his arrest there has been a significant reduction in the number of chip and PIN frauds."

De Montford, of Hayes, west London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to possess articles for use in the course of fraud and was sentenced after the end of a related trial. Three other gang members were each sentenced to three and a half years in jail after being found guilty last week of conspiracy to defraud.