by Linda Straker
After spending 7 days in jail, 25-year-old female was on Wednesday sentenced to pay the court EC$15,000 in 5 months, for stealing credit card information and using it to purchase personal goods online.
The individual was the first person to be charged under the new Financial Electronic Crimes Act and stands the possibility of getting a maximum of 9 years behind bars or be fined in excess of EC$100,000.
Last week Tuesday the former employee of a call centre in the south of the island pleaded guilty to 3 counts of Identification Theft. The prosecution told the court she used customers’ credit card information without their consent to make purchases for personal items online.
The incident took place between November of 2016 and March of 2017. The value involved according to the prosecution amounts to just US$700. The employee had been assigned to the Customer Service department of the company. Her posting, therefore, allowed her to make purchases on customers’ behalf, using their credit card information. That information, according to the reports, should have been deleted after use, however, on those occasions, they were memorised and reused to her benefit.
The customers complained to the company, and an investigation launched into the matter. The police were subsequently called in. After pleading guilty, she was sent to prison to await her sentencing.
On Wednesday the defendant pleaded for mercy, as she informed the court that prison was not a nice place and she did not wish to return.
