Chelmsford man used fraudulent credit card to fund luxury Caribbean holiday
By James Gregory From Essex Live News
He was found with more than 200 cards which could have been used for fraud.
A Chelmsford man who used someone else’s credit card to fund a luxury Caribbean holiday has been spared jail.
Corie Riddles, 26, of Courtlands, was also found with more than 200 blank bank cards when police searched his property.
Essex Police were alerted to Riddles after receiving information that a payment had been made in his name for the holiday in Montego Bay in Jamaica.
The card he had used was actually registered to an address in Beverly Hills in the USA.
On searching his property on November 4, 2017, police found three suitcases with Montego Bay return flight tags on.
Inside, officers seized two fraudulent bank cards in his name.
Police also found an embossing machine and a hot foil stamping machine, both used to make fraudulent cards, while £9,000 believed to be stemming from fraudulent transactions, was taken from his property.
James Culverwell, prosecuting, told the court that while the cards he had in his possession had not been used for financial gain, they had the potential for large sums of money to be utilised.
Speaking at Chelmsford Crown Court today (Wednesday, February 14), he said: “He was motivated by gaining a free holiday.
“He says he was asked to store the cards and items but it is quite clear what the items are for and the effect they will have.
“He was aware that this was fraud.”
But Nick Ham, mitigating for Riddles, said that the defendant was performing a limited role in this operation and that he was turning his life around after moving to Chelmsford.
He said: “He was trying to build a new life but his past came back to haunt him. He was performing under the instruction of someone else.
“He had employment and bumped into an old acquaintance who he had met in prison.
“The acquaintance offered him a sweetener of a free holiday but he was aware his name was being switched.
“While on holiday, this former associate asked him to put the equipment in his property. Riddles was initially reluctant but felt like he owed him something and foolishly, naively and rashly without thinking agreed to help.
“This was not his set-up and not his operation.”
Mr Ham also told the court how Riddles and his family had received violent threats from those in charge of the operation.
Recorder Simon Mayo
Recorder Simon Mayo QC, passing sentence, said: “It was not by his actions that he stopped his involvement but it was the police.
“This was a case of sophisticated fraud.
“You were acting under the instructions of others.
“If you had used fraudulent money to go on holiday in isolation, a community order might have been appropriate.
“But this is not in isolation and you have previous convictions for dishonesty.”
For the four counts related to fraud, Riddles was handed a total of 20 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Riddles was also ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and 40 activity days to address his offending.
Recorder Mayo added: “Please regard this as the opportunity it is – do not throw it back in my face will you?”
Read the full indictment:
Count 1: Fraud by false representation (using a card for a trip to Jamaica) – 18 weeks
Count 2: Possessing for fraud (blank cards and card printers) – 30 weeks
Count 3: Making equipment for fraud – 20 months
Count 4: Money laundering (£9000 seized from property) – 30 weeks
All counts to run concurrently.
A separate indictment for possession of cannabis was issued with no penalty.
For more on this story go to: https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/chelmsford-man-used-fraudulent-credit-1214393
