A man has been sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison for Conspiracy to Defraud; and Breach of Bail in relation to a million-pound credit card fraud.
Philip Lam, 31, of no fixed abode, was due to appear for sentencing in March 2021 but failed to appear and was sentenced in his absence. His co-accused, Steven Noone, 38, of Childwall was sentenced to four years, nine months in prison.
Enquiries revealed that Lam had absconded to Spain and he was arrested last month in Marbella, and working with the National Crime Agency (NCA), completed the extradition process.
Yesterday (Wednesday 14 December), Lam was collected from Gatwick Airport by Merseyside Police and he appeared for sentencing today (Thursday 15 December) at Liverpool Crown Court. Lam was sentenced to four years and eleven months in prison, including two additional months for Breach of Bail.
Lam and Noone were actively trading in and using stolen credit cards in order to make purchases on behalf of third parties.
Telephones and computers seized from their home addresses revealed that they each had a successful and profitable scam operating which involved them purchasing goods or services for third parties who contacted them on ‘WhatsApp’, ‘ICQ’ or social media. They used stolen details from more than 1,000 cards to book flights, hotels and goods.
Lam’s preferred payment method was via ‘PaySafe’ which is a method of moving money through a system of vouchers which can be purchased legitimately from…
