The Institute of Counter Fraud Specialists was established to provide direction and assistance to members and advance the profession of Counter Fraud Specialist (CFS). It came about when an increasing number of CFS, linked by a common specialist qualification, came to a growing consensus about how they should work and the standards expected of them and from that the Institute was the next natural step.

The network consists of 75 million miles of cable which is mostly underground and accessed via over 2 million manholes and millions of footway boxes. There are 5500 telephone exchanges and 900 other buildings that also form part of the network. The network links cities, towns and villages throughout the United Kingdom and every effort is made to supply telecommunication to the most remote of places or isolated community. This network was started at the beginning of the 20th century and with modern fibre cables now being installed, a great deal of the original network is becoming redundant, but we are retaining it as a backup should the fibre system fail, as it is easier to repair and reinstate connections quickly in emergency situations.

Due to the emerging economies of India and China, the demand for all raw materials has outstripped supply. If we concentrate on metals, the price of lead, chrome, aluminium, gold, platinum and copper has seen a marked rise in price over the last two years as demand increases. This has led to a black-market in metals and an increase in the theft of lead from church roofs, catalytic converters, railway signalling cable, bus shelters and BT copper cable. No thought is given by the perpetrator to the damage caused by water or the persons trapped on trains or the community isolation as long as they are making money.

Whenever Openreach cables are cut or stolen, we do our utmost to reinstate service as soon as possible. Our cables can be from as little as 5 pair up to 4800 pair and each pair carries a telecommunication connection. Thieves tend to target the larger cables so as to maximise the return from their theft, and as such, this means that more people are out of service. This also means that we need to tell more people why their telephone is not working, which is not always possible, and leaves our customers sometimes angry at the lack of information, but we are working on this and soon we will have large boards telling the public why there is no telephone service and hopefully keeping the public informed.
Openreach has 21 000 engineers who drive distinctly decorated vehicles. They also have image clothing with the company logo on it and wear industrial boots with metal toecaps. They have hi-viz jackets with OPENREACH written on the back. They are trained to park their vehicles safely and apply Road Works Guarding as specified by law. They are professional and trained to work safely within their environment. All BT Openreach engineers carry photo identification with a PIN number on it and an 0800 number to call and verify them. We do not work at night unless there is a major breakdown in the network and if we do, again, the site would be enclosed and lighted to the required standard. ( We do employ contractors and their standards should be the same as ours).

What can the public do to help Openreach. Be vigilant, be suspicious but under no circumstances approach persons. If you see persons opening footway boxes and they have no way of identifying then from their clothes or vehicle, be suspicious. If you see persons placing cones or road signs or even closing roads with barriers and you are unable to identify them, be suspicious. If you see or hear persons ‘working’ at night, especially on grass verges or unlit roads or vehicles screeching along the road dragging what looks like piping, be very suspicious. A vehicle registration and possible make can be of use in tracking the criminal down. Call the police if you are suspicious – they would rather make enquiries than have another crime to deal with.

What are Openreach doing? We are working with all Police Forces and offering information gained from our engineers and investigators. We are taking part in Days of Action with the enforcement agencies going into scrap metal dealers and stopping the possible outlet for stolen metals. We are working with Crimestoppers to allow the public to feed information into us, that we can correlate and pass on to the police. We are applying identifiable solutions to new cables and some existing routes, that can be traced if found with perpetrators or in the procession of scrap metal dealers. The lids to footway boxes are being replaced with lockable lids and lockable steel plates are being put under lids to add further protection. Any vulnerable routes are being alarmed, but if you look at the figures from the second paragraph, the task of protecting our network is an almost impossible task, which is why we all need to work together to stop cable crime.

By way of example, since January 2011 there have been 57 incidents in Surrey, mainly in the Chertsey, Woking and Bagshot triangle. The cost to Openreach has varied from a few thousand pounds to in excess of £100 000. If you take this as a nationwide problem, it is costing BT millions of pounds per annum. The time it takes to repair and replace cut or stolen cable can vary between a few hours and many days, depending on cable size and location, as well as damage done to the network.

If you see any suspicious persons or activity, especially at night contact-

THE POLICE………………………….999
BT SECURITY……………………………………….0800 321 999
CRIMESTOPPERS…………………………………..0800 555 111

Thanks to John Martin, BT Metal Theft Taskforce
john.l.martin@openreach.co.uk

 AN Eastleigh trader has been handed a 12 month suspended sentence for selling fake designer clothes.  Arvinder Singh Kang, 26, was caught selling knock-off Lacoste polo shirts for £10 from his market stall by undercover Hampshire Trading Standards officers.

 The officers seized just over 400 items of clothing, including T-shirts and tracksuits, from his stall and a Mercedes lorry parked nearby at Eastleigh market.  Tests confirmed 369 of the items were counterfeit goods which, if genuine, would have be worth around £9,000.

 Kang, from, Coventry pleaded guilty to eight charges relating to sale and possession of counterfeit clothing contrary to Trade Marks Act 1994.  He told officers he had paid £1,000 cash for the clothes from another trader called Harry who was going out of business.  Kang said the trader told him they were from a connection at discount clothing retailer TK Maxx.

 Southampton Crown Court heard Kang was a small-time trader who had been running his own market business for four years.  Recorder William Andreae-Jones QC handed him a 12 month sentence suspended for 12 months.  He was also ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work for, what the recorder said, was a “fraud not only upon the commercial community but upon customers who bought these things thinking they were genuine.”

 Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber said: “This is an excellent example of the work of Trading Standards officers in protecting the interests of consumers and those reputable businesses that operate within the law across Hampshire. The sentence sends out a strong message that the sale of counterfeit goods will not be tolerated in Hampshire and Trading Standards officers will take robust action to address any such case.”

The consultation period has ended…

The guidance has been published.

Now, with effect from 1^st July 2011 any company trading in the U.K. can be prosecuted if, in furtherance of the company business, one or more of its employees or representative’s are found guilty of bribing someone to do or not to do something contrary to their role.

The company will be able to claim a defence to such a charge if and only if it can prove it has put adequate compliance measures in place to prevent that occurrence.

Much will turn on the word “adequate” but the following is a quote from the legislative guidance,

“Accordingly, the detail of how organisations might apply these principles, taken as a whole, will vary, but the outcome should always be robust and effective anti-bribery procedures”.

The UK government has clearly indicated that it expects the anti-bribery training to be proportionate to the risks faced by the company.  A very small business may rely heavily on simply telling staff, verbally, about their bribery policy.

However, for larger companies the Guidance Notes recommend extensive written communication, and training that is continuous and regularly monitored.  The ideal means of delivering such communication and training is e-learning – and this is recognised in the Guidance Notes.

Birmingham Trading Standards has secured its biggest ever Proceeds of Crime Act award after a company boss, who was convicted of selling counterfeit clothing on an industrial scale, was ordered to repay almost £5.5 million 

Banti Sohal, aged 41, formerly of Bernard Road, Edgbaston, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in April last year after admitting 17 charges under the Trades Mark Act.

He was charged after city council trading standards officers made their biggest ever haul of counterfeit clothing in the West Midlands. Surelock assisted in this investigation together with other trade mark representatives.

They raided a warehouse in Smethwick in November 2008 where they discovered around 100,000 items of fake Nike, Timberland, Fred Perry, Drunknmunky, Ecko Rhino, Sean John and Henri Lloyd clothing.

Had the clothing been genuine it would have been worth up to £9 million but the estimated street value was £6 million.

NR Sohal and Sons’ registered premises was a shop in City Road, Edgbaston, but just a short distance away it had a huge warehouse in Heath Street, Smethwick, where the counterfeit clothing, imported from China, was stored.

The £5,380,000 confiscation order was made at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, March 18 2011.

If you’re buying a ticket for the Games:

• The 2012 ticket ballot opens on the 15th March. You have until 26 April to apply for tickets through LOCOG as it is not first come first served;

• Only apply for a ticket online at www.tickets.london2012.com. This is London 2012’s official site. You can get a paper application from any Lloyds TSB branch, or from any public library in Northern Ireland;

• If you get a ticket for an event you can’t attend, you can return your ticket to get a refund through the London 2012 official ticket exchange. Your ticket will then be officially resold;

• Don’t buy a ticket from an unauthorised website or tout. You risk being scammed, and not getting the ticket you wanted and paid for;

• There are only three official providers for Games Breaks and Hospitality Packages in the UK – these are:

- Thomas Cook – www.thomascooklondon2012.com

- Prestige Travel – www.prestigeticketing.london2012.com

- Jet Set Travel – www.jetsetsports.com

• Other websites or companies will not be authorised to sell you a ticket as part of a package. Always check the terms and conditions to see exactly what you are being sold;

If you find tickets for sale before the 15th March 2011 or available from any unauthorised source at anytime, don’t buy them. They are not genuine. Report it to www.actionfraud.org.uk, London 2012 via brandprotection@london2012.com or your local police force.

British Transport Police (BTP) is calling for new measures to tackle the increasing problem of metal theft.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Crowther, who also leads the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Conductive Metal Theft Working Group, has called for measures which would allow senior police officers to close down scrap metal dealers who fail to abide by industry standard working practices.

DCC Crowther said: “We need the powers to tackle the heart of this problem effectively, allowing us to shut down scrap metal dealers who continue to flout the law and provide a market for thieves through buying and selling stolen metal.

“With the high price of metal on world markets at the moment, thieves who sell to willing or unwitting dealers are getting good returns for their criminal activity.

“This is a crime which really impacts on people’s everyday lives. Take, for example, the small business left struggling because their broadband cable has been ripped out by thieves simply looking to make a quick buck.

“Metal theft is far from a victimless crime and can cause enormous problems for local communities and industry.”

To date, in 2010, there has been a significant rise in the number of incidents recorded by BTP, culminating in a new record being set in April when just less than 300 incidents were reported during the month.

This year to date BTP has recorded 1,855 cable-related offences and has made almost 500 arrests.

DCC Crowther added: “In recent months we have seen significant problems caused to both the East and West Coast Mainline due to cable theft with both routes suffering extensive delays and cancellations.

“Away from the railways, the actions of metal thieves have left entire communities, including hospitals and other vital services, without power. They have caused widespread broadband failures, and have even stripped some towns of their war memorials.”

BTP and local police forces have been working hard to tackle those involved in the thefts, but senior officers now feel the time has come to address the methods used by thieves to sell the stolen metal.

The ACPO group, which includes representatives from the British Metal Recycling Association (BMRA), has helped to draft a code of conduct for scrap metal dealers – setting out a number of conditions all dealers should adhere to, including: 

• All reasonable steps should be taken to ensure stolen metals are not bought
• Metals should only be accepted from those who present sufficient proof of identity and ownership (paper trails make it far easier for authorities to trace those who bring in stolen metals)
• All staff should be trained in administrative processes and all paperwork should be relevant and kept up-to-date
• Suspicious people and transactions should be reported to the police
• Dealers should co-operate withpolice and local authorities by allowing access and inspection when requested

In addition, ACPO would like to see an end to cash transactions at scrap dealers. This would stop thieves being able to make a ‘quick buck’ and would introduce a secondary level of identification as all payments would have to be made to a named account.

The code of conduct is close to being ratified by the industry and could hold the key to further success in tackling metal theft.

DCC Crowther continued: “The BMRA has been has acted responsibly in looking to bring in the voluntary code of conduct and I would like to thank them for this approach.

“But this would only cover their members and could disadvantage them, as non-members could flout the code and potentially earn more business as a result.

“We would, therefore, like to see the practices of the code made enforceable across the industry – setting clear guidelines for all scrap metal dealers.

“Police forces have seen success with licensing laws, which govern bars, pubs and clubs and allow officers to close them down if the terms of their license are breached. We want see if similar legislation could help us tackle this form of criminality.”

Dyan Crowther, director of operational services, Network Rail, said: “Metal thieves targeting the railway are causing misery to thousands of passengers, with many people missing business appointments or having disruption to holidays and days out through the selfish and dangerous actions of a few.

“We are doing everything we can to deter such thefts and protect our vital railway. Working in partnership with the police, more and more culprits and scrap metal dealers are being caught. We support any move that gives police the ability to close down dealers who are acting illegally in order to remove the market for stolen metal.”

Acknowledgement: Rochdale News, 25th October 2010

An investigation has been ordered into a number of thefts of grid covers, after reports that one woman suffered an ankle injury after fallling into a hole left by a missing grate.

And neighbours are being urged to watch for suspicious activity along the area’s sloping terrace streets.

Talks are also to be undertaken with Lancashire County Council, as the highway authority, over possible replacements.

Dorothy Lord, a Waterside councillor, raised the issue at a Colne area committee earlier this year.

Grates had been going missing from areas off Albert Road and Burnley Road.

Residents told councillors they had been taken from Dent Street, Gill Street, and Francis Street.

The question of funding replacement grates, in the current economic climate, may present an obstacle, though.

Pendle’s engineering and special projects manager Peter Atkinson, in an executive report, said: “If this council was to consider funding such work then the estimated cost of replacing a missing gully grid with a suitable metal one was £175, “And to replace with a plastic alternative would be £150.

“There would be a potential problem with the plastics ones as it was likely that they would not fit all of the many types of existing frames.”

Borough police and the multi-agency problem solving team, which involves a number of public sector bodies, have been alerted over the grates issue.

And quotes are being obtained from an environ-mental firm over the definitive cost of plastic grates.

Council chiefs also intend to launch an awareness campaign to encourage residents to report grate thefts and any suspicious activity surrounding them.

Acknowledgement: The Lancashire Telegraph, 12th November 2010

Brass ventilation covers, known as mushrooms, have been stolen from the roofs of narrow boats moored on the River Wey.  In four incidents a total of 15 mushrooms were stolen.  Boat owner, Peter Harman from Horsell has his boat moored on the River Wey.  He will have to spend about £250 to replace the stolen mushrooms.  Mr Harman said the brass equipment allowed natural ventilation of the cabin space without being affected by the weather.  He added: “I wanted to let other boat owners know what is happening so they can take precautions and so they don’t have their property removed.”

Crime reduction officer for Runnymede, PC Philip Grant, said: “I would appeal to everyone to keep their eyes peeled when they are close to the River Wey where boats are moored.  There is a close knit community around the river and I would advise people to look out for each other to put a stop to this type of offence”.

If you have information or witnessed these crimes, call Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222 quoting reference RM/10/6670.

Acknowledgement: Byfleet, West Byfleet, Pyrford & New Haw News & Mail

Two Traders Sentenced for Selling Fake Goods

Two traders caught selling fake goods pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on 6^th August 2010 for a number of trade mark offences. 

Habib Melloul (aged 28) of Shrewsbury Street, Kensington and Chelsea was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and ordered to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs to the London Boroughs of Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service. 

His wife, Aisha Melloul (aka Caryl Hubbard), aged 28, who was also involved in the business, was given a six month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to perform 80 hours of unpaid community work. In addition, she was ordered to pay £3,000 towards the cost of the prosecution,

The court heard Habib Melloul and Aisha Melloul were jointly involved in the purchase, storing and onward distribution of counterfeit shoes, clothing and bags.  The goods were sold at Wembley and Portobello markets and on e-Bay and Amazon websites.

Court Confiscates £254,000 from Counterfeit Goods Dealer

On Monday 23rd August 2010 at Inner London Crown Court, Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service secured the confiscation of £254,000 from Nazakat Hussain after he was caught dealing in counterfeit goods from Wembley Market. His Honor Judge Chapple made the order for this confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and gave him six months to pay up.

Confiscation proceedings were instituted last year following the successful conviction of Mr Hussain by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service, which resulted in him being sentenced to two years in prison for supplying counterfeit goods from stalls at Wembley market. The Trading Standards Service used the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which came into force to strip criminals of their ill gotten gains, to expose Mr Hussain’s finances and assets over a six year period. These detailed investigations revealed that Mr Hussain owned three houses, a business premise, a six series convertible BMW and that he had thousands of pounds in various bank accounts. All of these assets were then subject to restraint orders imposed by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service in order to prevent them from disappearing.

 During the hearing on 23rd August 2010, the court accepted that Mr Hussain had benefited to the value of £600,000 from his criminal activities and that the amount available to him to pay was £254,000.

 Mr Hussain will now have to pay the order in full within the next six months or he will face serving a default prison sentence, which was set at 3 years. Should he serve a term in prison in default for non payment of the order, he would still owe the full amount. Furthermore, any outstanding balance after the six months deadline would start attracting interest.