A Croydon fraudster who stole people’s identities to con thousands of pounds out of banking customers has been jailed for more than three years.
Belarusian national Denis Kupcevich was caught after police linked him to Deliveroo orders under one of his aliases to a flat in Baines Close, South Croydon.
Southwark Crown Court heard how Kupevich was part of a fraud network which conned victims and used false identities to create bank accounts through which the money could be laundered.
Police placed him under surveillance over six months and watched as he moved between high-end hotels and residential properties in London and Poole.
They found that Kupcevich and his criminal associates used the hotels as bases to contact their victims by phone and trick them into handing over money.
One victim was defrauded out of almost £160,000 after the gang claimed to be a bank operator and told her the money needed to be transferred due to a security risk.
Another victim was conned into paying £12,400 for a second hand BMW which never materialised.
Kupcevich stole the identities of two unwitting men from Moldova and Bulgaria, which allowed him to get a fake Bulgarian passport and identity card.
He then opened numerous bank accounts through which the stolen money could be laundered.
The 43-year-old, who initially entered the UK illegally in 2004, also stole the identity for a legitimate childcare company and created a bank account with it.
After he was arrested at his flat in Croydon last year, police identified a large number of potential victim’s bank accounts which the fraudsters planned to target.
Investigators were able to share details with the relevant banks before the frauds could take place, preventing more than £2 million from leaving the accounts.
When questioned, Kupcevich admitted performing the role of a cashing out facilitator for a criminal network, where they deposited stolen money into his accounts and he retained about 40%.
He was sentenced to three years and four months in jail on Tuesday for one count of money laundering, two counts of possession of identity documents with improper intention and one count of articles for use in fraud.
He will be deported after serving his sentence.
Timothy Court, of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Kupcevich played a vital role in the criminal ecosystem by enabling fraudsters to conceal their activity and access their illicit earnings.
“By arresting Kupcevich, the NCA has starved criminals of this service and protected the public from those seeking to cruelly steal money from unsuspecting victims.”
