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| Hungry For Info: Spencer (L) & Stanton (R) |
The bosses of a private investigation company who illegally 'blagged' sensitive, personal information from GP surgeries, utility companies, banks and other institutions on 1,900 occasions were convicted today
of the first-ever conspiracy to source such details.
While hunting individuals who owed unpaid bills, community charges and other debts staff lied and posed as other people during phone calls to extract information on behalf of ICU Investigations Ltd and their 330 clients.
ICU's named clients included Leeds Building Society; Allianz Insurance; Dee Valley Water; Brighton and Hove City Council and Mint Credit.
The identities of other institutions and companies are shielded behind the many solicitor's firms who instructed ICU on their behalf.
The company's director and sole shareholder Barry Spencer, 41, of Hook Common, Hook, Hampshire and former company secretary Adrian Stanton, 40, of Vicarage Road, Sunbury-on-Thames will be sentenced on January 24.
They were found guilty by an Isleworth Crown Court jury of conspiring to illegally obtain data, without consent, between April 1, 2009 and May 13, 2010.
Five ex-employees, who have already admitted conspiracy charges, will be sentenced on the same date.
The company, of Legacy Centre, Hanworth Trading Estate, Hampton Road West, Feltham was also convicted on the same summons brought under the Data Protection Act.
Even though MP's have voted for a two-year maximum sentence for the offence it has not been enacted and the only penalty available to the judge is an unlimited fine.
"This case is unique in that it is the first time conspiracy has been charged," prosecutor Mr. Ben Summers told the court, announcing the prosecution will pursue financial confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act and apply for Mr. spencer to be banned from being a company director.
Mr. Summers told the jury during the three-week trial: "They would trick the people they were calling at utility companies and the television licensing authority etc into disclosing information that involved personal data.
"That information would be used to complete reports on people they were trying to trace and then sent to ICU's clients.
"This case is about blagging, getting information about people by deceiving others and both defendants and ICU were involved in this practise.
"All three agreed to systematically commit offences under the Data Protection Act as part of the business they provided as a tracing agent."
Companies contacted for information include Vision Express; npower; E.ON; British Gas as well as GP surgeries.
"During the period somewhere in the order of nineteen hundred separate offences were committed with blagging phone calls being made," explained Mr. Summer.
"Personal details were blagged out of the people who were contacted."
A favourite method employed was to call an organisation, posing as the person they were trying to trace, and confirm details such as addresses and contact numbers.
"The defendants were involved in agreeing these calls should be made and through them the company is also responsible.
"They ran and administered the company and its day to day operation.
"Telephone calls were routinely made that did breach the Data Protection Act because they were blagging information from people by misrepresenting who they were and what they were after.
"It is inconceivable the offences could have been committed without Mr. Spencer and Mr. Stanton knowing what was going on," added Mr. Summers.
Judge Phillip Matthew told the two men: "You have been convicted by the jury and you will be bound to provide the financial information."
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