Jailing of Shrewsbury auctioneer scam gang welcomed
Police have welcomed lengthy prison sentences given to three men who cheated dozens of UK auction houses, including one in Shrewsbury, out of almost £1 million worth of jewellery using stolen credit cards.
Simohamed Rahmoun, 31, Farouk Dougui, 40, and Jabey Bathhurst, 25, used details stolen from people in Canada and the United States to register as telephone bidders with false passports and driving licences.
Following successful bids by Dougui and Rahmoun, courier Bathurst would then drive across the country to collect the jewellery and be long gone before the stolen credit card details would come to light.
Earlier this week at Isleworth Crown Court in London, Rahmoun was jailed for six years, Dougui for five years and Bathurst for four years.
One of the auction houses caught up in the fraud was Hall’s Auctioneers in Shrewsbury, where the gang scammed £25,000 worth of antique jewellery in October 2010.
West Mercia Police Detective Sergeant Andy Chatting investigated the incident and linked it with a similar scam used at Bamford’s Auctioneers in Derby.
Around the same time, officers became aware that Wiltshire Police had also launched investigations into incidents on their area.
After contacting auction houses around the country, Shrewsbury-based DS Chatting was alerted to a suspicious incident at Toovey’s Auction House in Sussex and immediately informed Sussex Police, who arrested Bathurst as he arrived to collect the goods.
“Wiltshire Police led the subsequent large-scale investigation with assistance from West Mercia, with our officers travelling to London to follow up leads and collating the evidence from across the north and midlands,” said DS Chatting.
“Warrants at the homes of Dougui and Bathhurst linked them to Rahmoun and the cloned credit card details and DC Mandy Carver from Wiltshire Police took over to collate all the evidence that resulted in all three being charged with conspiracy to defraud.”
Rahmoun pleaded guilty to the offence, with Dougui and Bathhurst denying it but were later found guilty following trial.
DS Chatting added: “This was a sophisticated crime requiring the attention of experienced detective officers. I am glad that the courts have demonstrated that people prepared to go these lengths to commit crimes like this will face the full sanction of the court”.
