Criminal Network Jailed Over 'E-Crime'

The ring leaders of a major organised criminal network which siphoned nearly £3 million from the bank accounts of the public have been jailed on Monday.

Ukrainian nationals Yuriy Konovalenko aka Pavel Klikov, 29, and Yevhen Kulibaba, 33, both of 9 Nevada Heights, Chingford Mount Road, Chingford, were each jailed for four years and eight months at Croydon Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

Both men were arrested after an investigation by the Met's Police Central E-Crime Unit (PCeU).

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the convictions were the culmination of a "complex and protracted" investigation by detectives from the Met's Police Central e-Crime Unit, which has seen 13 people jailed for their part in a sophisticated international online fraud that attacked the heart of the UK banking industry.

The investigation, codenamed Operation Lath, focussed on the activities of a group responsible for conducting a systematic and highly sophisticated banking fraud which attacked the banking accounts of hundreds of online customers.

The fraud was perpetrated through the use of banking 'Trojans' to infect the personal computers of bank account holders and subsequently secure funds from them. The malicious software programme was able to capture confidential information, such as usernames, passwords and account numbers.

These details were then used to access those accounts without the knowledge of the owners. Funds were then transferred to a large number of receiving accounts controlled by the group.

Detective Inspector Colin Wetherill, from the Metropolitan Police Central eCrime Unit said: "These defendants were part of an organised network of computer criminals operating a state-of-the art international online banking fraud, through which they stole many millions of pounds from individuals and businesses in the UK and United States.

"The investigation involved unprecedented levels of cooperation between the Metropolitan Police, the UK banks, the FBI and other UK and international law enforcement agencies. We are working hard to reduce the harm caused by these activities, to put fear into the minds of those contemplating these conspiracies and to bring such offenders to justice."

The total amount stolen through the operation of the fraud has not been definitively established; however the UK prosecution looked at the activities of the 13 defendants between September 2009 and March 2010 and during this period the proved loss was at least £2,884,590. The total amount which the conspirators attempted to remove was at least £4,286,559.

(DW/GK)