20/10/2010

Arrest In Premier League Ticket Probe

Metropolitan Police Service officers, investigating the misuse of Premier League membership cards, have arrested a 46-year-old man on suspicion of fraud by false representation, ticket touting and money laundering.

Officers from the Economic and Specialist Crime Command searched the man's business premises in Camden, and home address in Bushey, Hertfordshire, during dawn raids.

At the offices in Camden, officers discovered 20 club membership cards, for two different clubs, in a number of different names. Police believe the man has been using these cards to buy multiple tickets for football games to then sell them on at an inflated price whilst evading detection.

The man was taken to a central London police station and has since been bailed to return on 20 December.

The arrest comes as the MPS launch National Identity Fraud Prevention Week (NIFPW).

Using multiple identities can assist offenders in evading detection and false IDs themselves are a key enabler for more serious crime such as terrorism and organised immigration crime. The MPS are dedicated to tackling the ever changing threat of identity fraud and during National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, they will concentrate on getting the general public to take simple steps to protect themselves.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Downing from Operation Sterling, who is leading the MPS activity in support of the campaign, said: "Simple things like ensuring you destroy your paperwork, not posting any of your personal details online and never divulging your PIN or password to anyone, will go a long way in stopping fraudsters stealing what you have spent your whole life creating - your identity."

(BMcN)

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