CPS News Brief

Married police officers sentenced for selling car crash data

Two married constables working for Lancashire Police have been sentenced today (6 October 2017) for stealing police data about car crashes and selling it to claims firms for £363,000.

Nigel Mungur was sentenced to five years in prison and Nicola Mungur received a 12 month conditional discharge at Chester Crown Court. A third person, John Helton, was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.

The firms who were sold the data would use it to cold call people who had been in accidents and offer to get them compensation.

The police began an investigation in 2014 after people complained they were getting calls from law firms when they had not given their details to anyone other than the police. One man was even contacted by a claims firm before a police officer had arrived to investigate his report of a collision.

Over seven years Nigel Mungur accessed the personal data of individuals involved in road traffic collisions on 21,802 occasions. He set up a firm called the Personal Injury Company and used it to sell the stolen police data to claims companies. When the company licence was revoked in early 2009, he applied to set up another, paying the registration fee with a cheque signed by his wife to avoid the application being rejected.

John Helton was a contractor for a claims firm who was paid on the basis of cases he referred to the firm. Nigel Mungur passed the personal data onto him and he would sell it to the firm. The pair would then share the money paid out.

Nigel Mungur would upload up to 960 screen shots of confidential information from the police computer at a time to a virtual storage site and share a link to the images with Helton. The information included the time, date and place of collisions and the personal details of people reporting incidents to the police.

The CPS presented evidence that Helton received numerous screen shots and also phone evidence of the two discussing how much money they could make. In one message Mungur tells Helton that the “police systems are down”.

Nigel Mungur also sent text messages to his wife referring to payments received and how much money they would make in the coming year. In one message he complains to her that he is the one “taking all of the risks”.

At an earlier hearing Nigel Mungur pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and conspiracy to convert criminal property. Nicola Mungur pleaded guilty to obtaining personal data and Helton admitted conspiracy to convert criminal property and conspiracy to commit unauthorised access to a computer.


Richard Riley from the CPS said:

“Nigel Mungur’s greed led him to take the leading role in stealing confidential information held on a police database and sell it for profit.

“Nicola Mungur was clearly aware of her husband's crimes and encouraged, connived and acquiesced in them by turning a blind eye and the pair reaped the financial rewards.

“The public expect a high standard of behaviour from the police but the Mungurs’ conduct fell short of their duty and now they are paying the price.”


Note to Editors

1. Richard Riley is a Senior Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Court Unit of CPS Mersey-Cheshire

2. Nigel Mungur (dob 29/09/1977) pleaded guilty to counts 1, 2, 3 and 4
Nicola Mungur (dob 23/04/1980) pleaded guilty to count 5 on
John Helton (dob 16/10/1979) pleaded guilty to counts 3 and 4

Count 1 - MISCONDUCT IN A JUDICIAL OR PUBLIC OFFICE
Count 2 - CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MISCONDUCT IN A PUBLIC OFFICE, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Count 3 - CONSPIRACY TO CONVERT CRIMINAL PROPERTY, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Count 4 - CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO A COMPUTER, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Count 5 - OBTAINING PERSONAL DATA, contrary to sections 55(1), 55(3) and 60(2) of the Data Protection Act 1998

Fraudster who took life savings of his investors in a gold trading scam is jailed

A serial fraudster who persuaded people to give him their life savings in a gold trading scam has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Christian Fallon defrauded members of the public by taking their savings and claiming to invest them in various schemes including trading precious metals and property investment.

Isleworth Crown Court heard Fallon persuaded his clients to part with tens of thousands of pounds at a time, using a loan note, a form of IOU, to cover his tracks so that he had a defence to spend the money how he wished.

Whilst he gave reassurances to the people he defrauded that he was making money for them, Fallon was actually spending their savings on himself.

In total he took £1.9 million from his ‘investors’ but left them with a net loss of £885,625. He was sentenced yesterday (5 October).

Nina Montalbano, from the CPS, said: “Many of Fallon’s victims had trusted him with their life savings but he spent them on sending his children to private school, enjoying meals in top London restaurants and going on luxury holidays. 

“Fallon tried to cover his tracks by using false documents. Evidence from the CPS proved, however, that he had told them they were investing in gold and property with the promise of dividends that he never provided.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• Nina Montalbano is a lawyer in the Specialist Fraud Division.

• He was sentenced to seven years in prison and disqualified from acting as a director for five years.

Members of gang which trafficked women for sex convicted

Members of a gang which trafficked 19 women into prostitution at hotels across southern England and Wales have been convicted of their part in the operation. 

The women, from south-east Asia, advertised their services on a range of adult websites. Phone numbers given in the adverts, if dialled, would go through to a member of the gang who would then make contact with the woman in question. Almost 400 bookings were made at hotels between August 2013 and March 2015, mainly along the south coast, at locations as far afield as Gatwick, Exeter and Cardiff.

The room reservations were made using false details. Customers would pay for services on arrival at the hotel in cash which would then be paid into accounts controlled by members of the gang. In total, the operation generated hundreds of thousands of pounds, with credits of more than £88,000 paid into one bank account and more than £66,000 into another. 

Mobile phones seized from the defendants and sex workers showed hotel bookings, along with messages about the arrival of the women, their work, contact with clients and payment details. 

Three defendants, all from south-east Asia, were convicted of multiple offences yesterday (5 October) following a trial at the Old Bailey in London.

Kevin Thomson, from the CPS, said: 

“This was an organised operation designed to traffic women into prostitution, as shown by the variety of bank accounts used to run it and the sheer amount of funds it generated. These elements helped to provide compelling evidence of what these defendants were doing. 

“The gang exploited vulnerable women, putting them to work in situations which exposed them to serious potential risks. Once the women were caught up in the prostitution ring, it was invariably almost impossible for them to escape the life they had been forced into. 

“All the time, they were then earning what turned out to be huge sums of money for the defendants, who were responsible for running the operation without any regard for the women’s wellbeing.” 

Ends

Notes to Editors 

• The hotels used were located in Brighton, Gatwick, Bournemouth, Exeter, Maidstone, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Guildford, Cardiff, Windsor, Heathrow, Woking and Eastbourne. 
• Kevin Thomson is a lawyer with the CPS South East Complex Casework Unit.
• The members of the gang convicted were:
•     Hong Chin, 45, conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation,                         possessing criminal property, using criminal property
•     Li Wei Gao, 44, – conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation, possessing criminal property
•     Ting Li Lu, 47, – conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation, possessing criminal property 
• They will be sentenced on 26 October.

Members of gang which trafficked women for sex convicted

Members of a gang which trafficked 19 women into prostitution at hotels across southern England and Wales have been convicted of their part in the operation. 

The women, from south-east Asia, advertised their services on a range of adult websites. Phone numbers given in the adverts, if dialled, would go through to a member of the gang who would then make contact with the woman in question. Almost 400 bookings were made at hotels between August 2013 and March 2015, mainly along the south coast, at locations as far afield as Gatwick, Exeter and Cardiff.

The room reservations were made using false details. Customers would pay for services on arrival at the hotel in cash which would then be paid into accounts controlled by members of the gang. In total, the operation generated hundreds of thousands of pounds, with credits of more than £88,000 paid into one bank account and more than £66,000 into another. 

Mobile phones seized from the defendants and sex workers showed hotel bookings, along with messages about the arrival of the women, their work, contact with clients and payment details. 

Three defendants, all from south-east Asia, were convicted of multiple offences yesterday (5 October) following a trial at the Old Bailey in London.

Kevin Thomson, from the CPS, said: 

“This was an organised operation designed to traffic women into prostitution, as shown by the variety of bank accounts used to run it and the sheer amount of funds it generated. These elements helped to provide compelling evidence of what these defendants were doing. 

“The gang exploited vulnerable women, putting them to work in situations which exposed them to serious potential risks. Once the women were caught up in the prostitution ring, it was invariably almost impossible for them to escape the life they had been forced into. 

“All the time, they were then earning what turned out to be huge sums of money for the defendants, who were responsible for running the operation without any regard for the women’s wellbeing.” 

Ends

Notes to Editors 

• The hotels used were located in Brighton, Gatwick, Bournemouth, Exeter, Maidstone, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Guildford, Cardiff, Windsor, Heathrow, Woking and Eastbourne. 
• Kevin Thomson is a lawyer with the CPS South East Complex Casework Unit.
• The members of the gang convicted were:
•     Hong Chin, 45, conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation,                         possessing criminal property, using criminal property
•     Li Wei Gao, 44, – conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation, possessing criminal property
•     Ting Li Lu, 47, – conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, conspiracy to traffic for sexual exploitation, possessing criminal property 
• They will be sentenced on 26 October.