£2m credit card fraud masterminded by IT worker

The UK's largest ever credit card fraud was masterminded by an IT expert who downloaded details of cards used by passengers to purchase tickets for London's Heathrow Express rail link.

Sunil Mahtani, 26, from Watford pleaded guilty last week at Middlesex Guildhall crown court to two counts of conspiracy to defraud central clearing banks and other financial institutions between April 1998 and September 2001.

He worked in IT for Checkline Plc, which processed card transactions for the Heathrow Express before being dismissed in 2000 when the company was taken over.

Mahtani was part of a gang which downloaded credit card details of 8,790 passengers and stole £2m. The prosecution claimed the gang could have made £20m if they had cloned more than just the 847 that were used across Europe.

The card details downloaded by Mahtani were then passed on to Shaidal Rahim and Shahajan Miah from Enfield, who both pleaded guilty to one of the conspiracy charges.

Credit card fraud investigators identified the Heathrow Express as the common point of purchase for a large number of cards that were subject to fraudulent transactions and notified Scotland Yard.

Police claim the case is the largest ever investigation into credit card fraud in the UK. The case has been adjourned until Tuesday, when all three men will be sentenced.

Heathrow Express, a BAA company, was absolved of blame by the judge in the case and the company said it co-operated with the investigation.

A statement said: "The individuals convicted of fraud were employed by a financial services company subcontracted by BAA to fulfil electronic fund transfers for Heathrow Express, and other clients, to credit card companies. BAA and Heathrow Express co-operated fully with the investigations of the police, and the credit card companies, who led the inquiry."