UK CRIME MONITOR
June 2017
Fraud | Glasgow - 13 Jun
A man who organised a large-scale property fraud has
been jailed for 11 years after what was believed to have
been the longest criminal trial in UK legal history. Edwin
McLaren preyed on vulnerable people and arranged for
the title deeds of their homes to be transferred to his
associates without the victims knowledge
Extortion | Manchester - 20 Jun
A Gardener was convicted after trying to blackmail a
millinaire lawyer. Eamonn Dunne received a ransom
demand warning him to pay 50,000 or his wife,
children, friends and business would be harmed.
Telephone evidence led to Josh Odom being identified,
who had known Mr Dunnes son at school. He targeted
Mr Dunne as he believed he was wealthy and it would
be easy money.
Robbery | Liverpool, 8 Jun
Suspects used a Toyota vehicle to ram a jewellers in
Liverpool, two males then got out and threatened staff,
taking high value items from the display before making
off in the vehicle.
Robbery | Birmingham, 29 Jun
A group of males used a 4 wheel drive vehicle to ram a
bank, six males then ran in wearing balaclavas, threatened
staff and took cash, before fleeing in another vehicle.
Insurance Fraud | London -16 Jun
Seven expert witnesses who fabricated evidence
about the cost of replacement hire cars for motorists
in road crashes have been jailed. The seven all worked
for Autofocus Ltd and became caught up in perjury
on an industrial scale. 30,000 cases were affected by
the defendants signing false statements after making
reports. It led to losses in excess of 100m.
Robbery | Exeter, 26 Jun
An organised crime group from London drove two vans
to Exeter, using them to ram raid an Apple store. They
used the vehicles to smash their way through security
doors and stole hundreds of high value Apple products.
www.another-day.com
Robbery | Gleneagles, 27 Jun
A Mappin and Webb concession at the five star
Gleneagles hotel was targeted by an organised crime
group, they threatened staff with weapons, smashed a
display and took a large quantity of luxury watches.
Armed robbery | Nottingham -30 Jun
Three males were arrested following a string of armed
robberies. They were arrested outside a security depot
in Rotherham, planning a 14 million heist on a delivery
van. They had committed a string of robberies with
weapons, targeting businesses and cash in transit vans.
Fraud | London - 20 Jun
A banker who took bribes to approve hundreds of
millions of pounds in loans for gas and oil projects
in former Soviet states has been jailed. Andrey
Ryjenkos role at the publicly funded European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) required
him to vet applications for investment from eastern
European oil, gas and mining firms.
The kickbacks were allegedly paid by middle man
Dmitrij Harder, through his US company Chestnut
Consulting Group Inc, as part of a success fee for
securing the loans.
Copyright Fraud | London -30 Jun
Three men have been sentenced for providing illegal
access to copyrighted content such as films, music,
books and games which cost the industry more than
2.5 million pounds. The males operated a server
based in the Netherlands, containing over 100,000 files
of films and other media, available to users for a fee.
Theft | UK wide, 27 Jun
Dozens of supercars including Lamborghinis, Porsches
and BMWs have been stolen from the streets of Britain
and shipped to Thailand. Most of the cars were bought
on finance - when the vehicles were at sea, the owners
reported them stolen and stopped paying the monthly
repayments
CRIME
CONVICTION
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UK CRIME MONITOR
June 2017
Each month we focus on specific tactics or emerging trends in UK serious and organised crime.
TAC TIC FOCUS
Intellectual Proper ty Crime
What is the tactic?
This is committed when someone manufactures, sells or
distributes counter feit or pirated goods for commercial
gain.
Who carries it out ?
The majority of counter feit goods originate from China,
however with the increase in use of the internet, social
media and dark web, there is now a global marketplace
for the manufacture and sale of counter feit goods. Often
organised crime groups commit these offences as it is a
high reward, low risk type of crime.
What damage can it cause?
While purchasing counter feit goods may seem like a
bargain, they can also be potentially fault y, of poor quality
and in some cases dangerous. For example, counter feit
medicine may have no active ingredients, or contain toxic
or other wise harmful material.
Fur thermore the purchase of illegal goods is illegal, and
this seemingly low harm crime actually funds organised
crime which in turn leads to an increase in other violent
offending. This can be committed by direct supply chain
theft, or stealing IP through corruption, fraud or cyber
breaches.
It is estimated this costs the UK economy at least 1.3
billion per year, plus the reputational damage and loss of
sales increases this significantly. This can result in loss
of jobs, consumer confidence and ultimately significant
financial loss to the legitimate company.
How can I spot it ?
Packaging can be hard to differentiate, as it often looks
like the real thing and carries genuine-appearing trade
marks. They are often adver tised as end of line, and are
sold at or near normal price to reinforce the image that
they are genuine.
Traders will often have a seemingly reputable email or
website, however these may have spelling mistakes or
false URLs or email headers.
Advice for companies
To protect yourself, ensure you are protected by
copyrighting, patenting or trademarking your product.
Prevention is better than cure; ensure your HR policies,
licence management and processes for site visits are
reviewed and up to date. Ensure staff and trained about the
impor tance of IP and how to comply with relevant law.
Conducting regular online research into your products,
along with competitor analysis, may identif y fraudulent
products on the market you were not aware of. Conduct
ongoing dark web and pastebin searches to look for your
stolen IP.
Conduct regular cyber and physical penetraton testing,
to ensure you are not vulnerable to online IP theft or
corporate espionage.
If you believe you are the victim or IP theft, fur ther
investigation may be required. If known, writing to the
company may lead to resolution however the law also
protects traders from unjustifiable threats of trade mark
infringement.
Fur ther investigation and legal advice should be sought,
as a cour t order may enforce the fraudulent company to
cease trading and pay compensation for damages.
Advice for consumers
Trust your instincts - if it appears too good to be true, it
probably is.
Check spelling and grammar on the website, plus the URL -
this is often inaccurate or altered.
Check the company online if you have not traded with
them before; ensure the website address begins https at
the payment stage.
Dont click on links in unsolicited emails, use a search
engine or type in the website manually.
Ask the trader if they have a returns policy - illegal traders
will normally not offer this.
www.another-day.com
UK CRIME MONITOR
June 2017
Trouble with justice?
The rise in private prosecutions
In 2015, Ketan Somaia was described as a confidence
trickster on a grand scale during proceedings at
the Old Bailey. He was convicted of nine counts of
obtaining a money transfer by deception to the value
of 19.5m he was jailed for eight years and ordered
to repay vast sums to those he had conned. This was
however not prosecuted by the state, this was funded
by the victim and prosecuted by Edmonds Marshall
McMahon.
In the current climate there has been a significant
rise in private prosecutions in the UK. This rise is in
proportion to the cuts in police budgets, the scarcity
of investigative resources and the pressures on the
national criminal justice system. Under the Prosecution
of Offences Act 1985, any citizen has the right to bring
a private prosecution, and this right remains to this day.
On first view, a private prosecution would appear to
be restricted to the wealthy elite, however, a well-
managed private criminal prosecution can also
end up more cost effective in the long run, as well
as faster, especially when in comparison with civil
litigation cases or a state-run investigation. Provided a
private prosecution is instituted and the proceedings
continued with good cause, the claimant may be able
to recover the reasonable costs of their investigation
and prosecution from government Central Funds, even
in circumstances when the defendant is acquitted.
So at what stage is a private prosecution likely to be
initiated? While there is a large amount of reasons
why a client may go private, three main triggers would
appear to be; a) criminal offences are identified as a
Simon Davison
Director, Investigations
result of civil proceedings; b) police or the CPS have
decided there is insufficient evidence to prosecute
despite the claimants wishes; or c) the claimant does
not wish to involve a public body at all.
Many associate private investigators with a rather
seedy underworld; indeed, while there are disreputable,
unprofessional and unqualified investigation
agencies out there, there are also professional, expert
companies capable of conducting a thorough, diligent
and admissible investigation to a standard expected by
criminal courts.
Several safeguards are rightly in place to protect
from nefarious investigators, prevent any abuse of
the criminal justice system and prevent potential
miscarriages of justice. The optimum stance to
succeed in this arena is for a private prosecution body,
comprising experienced independent investigators,
experts and lawyers, working together from the outset
on close consultation with the client.
AnotherDay believe that a complete end-to-end
service - with proven credentials, independent
guidance and expertise in all facets of investigation and
prosecution - will offer the prime solution for private
individuals and companies in this growing industry. We
work with private clients, offering our expert insight and
experience from the initial consultation, and complete
a tailored, efficient and cost effective investigation. We
ensure that the process remains transparent, open
and admissible in court, adhering to the standards
expected from the most stringent investigations seen
in British courts.
www.another-day.com