14 DAY TRIAL // Three brothers from Seacole Close, Acton, have been sentenced to prison for cloning credit cards and stealing PIN numbers from ATMs. The three previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud charges.
Ahmed Charmaga, 25, Mahmoud Charmaga, 23, and Mohammed Charmaga, 28, were running their illegal operation from an office building in Brent. When officers from the Metropolitan Police raided the place, back in November 2008, they found 600 counterfeit credit cards, as well as the equipment that was used to create them.
Mahmoud Charmaga was arrested while he was entering the building during the search. The police found further evidence of credit card fraud at his house, in a room used by his brother, Mohammed, from where they recovered a laptop and documents.
Card skimmers, which are used to capture credit card information from magnetic stripes, as well as ATM keypads modified to steal PIN numbers, were also found in the office, which was rented under a false identity. Police traced the fake name to Ahmed Charmaga, who was already serving a prison sentence of two years.
According to the investigators, the fake cards were used to directly withdraw money from ATMs, buy expensive goods such as designer clothes and aftershave, or pay at 24-hours, self-service petrol stations. Considering the evidence found, it is estimated that an additional financial loss of £2 million ($3.2 million) was prevented.
Mahmoud Charmaga received five years of prison time, Mohammed Charmaga only two and eight months, while their already jailed brother, Ahmed Charmaga, got an additional four and a half years to his previous sentence.
"The success of this investigation was due to the sharing of information between our partner agencies. This enabled us to gain sufficient evidence to prosecute these fraudsters and we have also disrupted their criminal enterprises," Detective Constable Keith Harrington with the City of London Police Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) commented.