A man has been jailed for eight months for his part in a scam where iPhones were fraudulently obtained from Orange stores around the UK.
Emmanuel Richson, 42, from Sunderland, was caught trying to buy an iPhone under the name Paul Williams in an Orange store in Perth, the BBC reported. Richson admitted forming a fraudulent scheme in concert with unknown others to obtain goods by fraud at Perth Sheriff Court today.
Richson had been recruited by an organised crime gang to obtain iPhones for gang members from Orange stores around the country. When he was caught he was in possession of documents including a bank card and bank statement in the name of Paul Williams, which it later emerged had been stolen. Staff called the police after becoming suspicious.
At the time, Richson had only just got out of jail, having been sentenced to 90 months in July 2007 for drug smuggling. As he was out on licence, the parole board could decide that Richson should have to complete his sentence for that offence on top of the eight months he has been given for the iPhone scam.
Richson is also now banned from every Orange store in the country. Richson’s solicitor said that he had been tempted to get involved in the scam on a one-off basis in order to earn enough money to put down a deposit on a place to live.
