Legal

Teen download scammer admits to fraud charge

By | Published on Friday 17 December 2010

Piracy

A nineteen year old from Wolverhampton has admitted to being part of a credit card scam where he created original music tracks and arranged for them to be sold via iTunes and Amazon, and then bought them himself with other people’s credit cards, thus fraudulently securing royalties.

As previously reported, twelve people were accused of being involved in the money laundering scheme last year. The scammers, who all hail from around the UK, though mainly Wolverhampton, were arrested in June 2009 in a joint operation between the Metropolitan Police and the FBI.

Lamar Johnson, already in prison for causing grievous bodily harm, is the youngest of the accused, and this week admitted in court to downloading about 2000 of the tracks created by the scammers using stolen cards. Prosecutors reckon the group collectively made about £500,000 from the illegal operation.

Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud at London’s Southwark Crown Court this week, with the judge adjourning his sentencing. No pleas were entered by nine of the other people facing charges relating to this scam.



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