'Black Dragon' Cyber Criminal Jailed For £6.5m UN Carbon Credits Hack

Matthew Beddoes & one of his online profile pics

A cyber-criminal nicknamed the 'Black Dragon',  who masterminded an audacious attempt to hack into the United Nations computer systems to steal £6.5m worth of carbon credits, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Matthew Beddoes, 32, created a rogue 'Trojan' programme he called Zeus to transfer 426,108 Certified Emission Reduction credits from an account on the U.N's Clean Development Mechanism Registry in Bonn, Germany - thwarted when an incorrect account number was used. 

Beddoes then targeted the Spanish Carbon Credit Registry and 350,000 European Union Allowances were transferred to a UK broker, who sold €89,000 worth to BP before the remainder were frozen.

He pleaded guilty at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court to six counts of conspiring to do unauthorised acts, with intent to impair computer programmes, four counts of unauthorised access to business computers, three counts of possessing electronic files containing credit card information and one count of acquiring criminal property on or before November 17, 2011.

He was recruited by Jasdeep Randhawa, 38, of Aber Road, Leicester, who received twenty-one months imprisonment and his friend Jandeep Sangha, 28, of New Street, Leicester, who laundered the stolen money, received twelve months, suspended for two years, was fined £1,000 and ordered to complete 120 hours community service.

Shrewsbury-born Beddoes, (pictured) of Jubilee Avenue, Donnington, Telford, who also nicknamed himself 'Cyber Commander' and 'Secret Squirrel' boasted of his hacking skills online, with his Facebook name 'Matty Net Jackal Beddoes' an 'Old Skool Hacker.'

He spent a short time living in South Tidworth, Wiltshire after setting up Alladin Technologies, a computer security company, specialising in removing malicious software and viruses.

His lawyer Mr. Mark Cotter told the court: "He has had an itinerant lifestyle, bouncing from place to place, but always with the company of his laptop.

"He first became interested in computers at the age of five and if circumstances were different his skills may have been channelled into more lawful use.

"He started his first steps in hacking at the age of sixteen  and is in some ways addicted. He has immersed himself into online computing and hacking and it became a challenge.

"It appear to have been a highly-addictive hobby, a hobby that has ended with him breaking the law. There is a culture of bragging within this community and it has a fantasy element to it.

"You get the feeling with the names Black Dragon and Cyber Commander you are dealing with a James Bond-style secret organisation when in reality it is a bloke on his laptop in a friend's house living an itinerant lifestyle.

"You could describe him as a master online locksmith and he advertised his services to find new challenges and was approached by Mr. Randhawa on the internet.

"The proposal that was put forward in relation to carbon credits was a new challenge for him and he formulated an effective way of putting the operation into effect.

"It came as an enormous surprise to him that it ultimately did work. He did not think in a million years that anyone would open the email and the attachment, particularly in an organisation like the United Nations."

Beddoes received £6,250 for the smaller sale of carbon credits to BP.

"I am sure he would be an extremely valuable asset to any company, telling them where their weaknesses lie and how to stop people getting in," added Mr. Cotter.

Coalminer's son Beddoes, who left school after failing all his GCSE's has been in custody  since his arrest on November 17. 2011. "He has found his time in prison difficult and feels he does not belong there, that he doesn't fit in there."

On Twitter in November 2010 he boasted: "I'm a web/network hacker that is looking to sell my excess data or trade for services. Here is a list of data I am selling for now and more.

"On a mission to code these apps, hack three sites, make some dolla on da forex and debug some router firmwares. Virtually unstoppable."

Randhawa pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to secure unauthorised access to computers and two counts of conspiring to impair computer programmes between June 4 and November 17, 2011.

Sangha pleaded guilty to conspiring to disguise criminal property and acquiring criminal property on or before November 17, 2011.

Judge Nicholas Price told Beddoes:  "From a career, which started with no promise academically, your interest in computers started at an extraordinarily young age.

"You possess considerable IT skills that if harnessed legitimately should have provided you with a rewarding job and a substantial salary.

"You would have been an asset to any company, to point out potential abuses in their computer systems and it is a tragedy that you abused those skills in such a criminal way."

When arrested Beddoes was in possession of 3,000 credit card numbers, 500 email addresses of potential 'phishing' scam victims and he had accessed the computers of HSBC, Virgin, LloydsTSB and other companies.

"You adopted a number of cyber tools to attack websites and to obtain carbon credits as well as usernames, passwords, email addresses and bank details.

"The powerful malware you employed was a so-called Trojan called 'Zeus' which when injected into computer systems was highly-efficient at stealing information."

Bangladeshi Immigration Scammer Gets Eight Years

An illegal immigration fixer, who made thousands of pounds out of successfully arranging for unqualified Bangladeshi families to move to the UK, has been jailed for eight years.

Shuhel Chowdhury, 48, of Arragon Road, East Ham used forged documents and lied on oath before Immigration and Asylum Tribunal's to get six bogus family visas.

He originally applied for nine, which would have seen thirty Bangladeshi's arrive in the UK.

Chowdhury (pictured) was arrested by the UK Border Agency's criminal and financial investigation team in September 2011

Charging the families several thousand pounds for each application he produced documents purporting to show the applicants had sufficient funds to support themselves.

He was convicted after a Croydon Crown Court trial of nine counts of assisting unlawful immigration.

Chowdhury also altered utility bills and bank statements and his fingerprints and signature were found on some of the incriminating documents.

He told a pack of lies to the jury during the ten-day trial, blaming the illicit scheme on a mystery Bangladeshi he allowed to stay at his home.

When the nine application were initially rejected he gave evidence in person under oath to the tribunals and six were overturned and the bogus applicants and their relatives remain in the UK.

Mortgage Broker And Dodgy Businessman Sentenced

Mortgage Broker John Boyce

A mortgage broker and a businessman, who became involved in supplying bogus references to support weak loan applications, have both escaped prison with suspended sentences.

They are: John Boyce, 64, (pictured) of Wickham Avenue, Sutton and Rafael Choudhury, 37, of Holcombe Road, Tottenham, who triggered the police investigation when he ripped-off a customer of £1,750.

Officers investigating that complaint stumbled upon the pairs' sideline of boosting mortgage applications with bogus documents such as payslips, company accounts and other proof of earnings.

Prosecutor Mr. Andrew Mazibrada told Croydon Crown Court: “This was a protracted and complex fraud investigation that started in 2009 and the conduct of these two was the catalyst, but they play a small part in a wider fraud. Their part in it was to open the door.

“Boyce was a Financial Services Authority-approved mortgage broker and where there were difficult applications that could not be fixed legitimately he turned to Choudhury for forged documents that were certified and submitted to financial institutions.

“These mortgages would not have been granted otherwise and there was a risk of loss if they were defaulted on.”
Boyce received £300 for each successful mortgage application.

Police only became involved when a customer of Choudhury's debt consolidation business walked into Tooting Police Station and complained he had lost £1,750 to the defendant who took the fee, but did nothing to reduce to complainant's £30,000 arrears.

“Mr. Boyce was running a legitimate business with an illicit part to it,” said Mr. Mazibrada, adding the defendant had been cautioned by the police in 2006 for forging an insurance document.

Chowdhury, the court was told, has since filed for bankruptcy.

Boyce was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and Chowdhury also received a suspended sentence. 

Mayfair Death: Man Charged With Murder

A man charged with murdering wealthy socialite Roberto Troyan, who was battered to death at his exclusive Mayfair flat, was remanded in custody today to appear at the Old Bailey in two days time.

Financial advisor David Jeffs, 36, of Larch Close, Arnold, Nottingham appeared for a brief hearing at Croydon Magistrates' Court and was remanded in custody until a preliminary hearing on friday.

Mr. Troyan, 63, (pictured) lived alone at his Mount Street flat after the death of his partner, interior designer Anthony Feldman, whose clients included Princess Michael of Kent.

His body was discovered on March 8.

Airport Cocaine Seizure: Texas Woman Charged

A Texas resident, charged with smuggling cocaine into the United Kingdom after she was stopped at London's Gatwick Airport, has denied the allegation.

Andrea Dee Crossen, 46, of Waterside Court, Addison – ten miles north of downtown Dallas - was stopped and held by officers from the UK Border Agency and has been in custody ever since.

She pleaded not guilty when she appeared at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) to being concerned in the importation of a class A drug, namely cocaine, on December 30, last year.

She appeared in a secure glass-panelled dock for a few minutes to enter her plea and was remanded in custody by Judge Nicholas Ainley for a trial expected to start the week beginning April 29.

The trial could have begun four weeks earlier, but Crossen's defence lawyer asked for extra time to prepare a medical report.

Paedo's Secret Exposed By Doctor

A paedophile, who thought he had got away with molesting three young girls in a two-decades old series of abuse, has been jailed after his doctor reported him to the police.

Father-of-two Kevin Andrews, 52, of Erskine Road, Sutton talked his way out of trouble when accused ten years ago, but eventually confessed and was caged.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of indecently assaulting one girl between August 1, 1992 and August 31, 1996.

Andrews, who mariage has broken down as a result of the case, also pleaded guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting a second girl between August 1, 1997 and January 1, 2000.

He also asked for his abuse of a third victim to be taken into consideration.

Bespectacled and grey-haired Andrews, who moved in with his mother when his marriage broke down, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) to two years imprisonment.

The court heard he would read one of his victims bedtime stories before groping her, tormenting the child from the age of seven.

He would read the girl a story before turning the bedroom lights off, getting into bed with her, and rubbing himself on her.

Andrews groped his other victim so frequently she thought it was normal.

Globe-Trotting Benefit Cheat Yachtsman Jailed

A benefits cheat, who sailed the Atlantic in his yacht while receiving incapacity payments and illegally pocketing nearly £30,000 in housing and council tax handouts, has been jailed for four months.

Graham Axford, 58, who was exposed in a BBC Panorama programme called 'Britain on the Fiddle' secretly owned a property in Wales and part-owned a French farmhouse in Normandy, which he restored.

During the fraud Axford, of Belgrave Road, South Norwood, who has claimed incapacity benefit since 1995, sailed his £25,000 private 42-foot yacht from South Carolina to the Azores in the North Atlantic - a journey of 2,900 miles.

"On any view you have a joint interest in or owned part of a home in France by 2003 and in 2007 you declared to the council that you were not paying a mortgage and that was a blatant lie," Croydon Crown Court Judge Peter Gow QC told him.

"You were paying a mortgage on a property in Wales that you owned and later sold, although it was in negative equity.

"This was a fraud carried out over a significant period of time and you have been overpaid benefits as a result of your dishonest claims."

He tried to lie his way out of trouble during his trial, clashing with the prosecutor and swallowing medication in the witness box while claiming: "I'm trying not to get angry here, you are trying to twist this.

"I've had this from the council for two bloody years and I have just had to take a pill to stop my heart racing."

He was convicted of three charges of dishonestly making a false representation to the London Borough of Croydon on a housing benefit and council tax benefit application form by failing to declare property ownership in France and Wales, once in 2003 and twice in 2007, resulting in a loss of £29,456.55.

During the fiddle keen cyclist Axford, who stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2010 local elections, deliberately kept his ownership of a house in Commercial Road, Llanhilleth, Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent a secret along with his interest in the French farmhouse, which he regularly visited.

He bought the Welsh property for cash in 1984 and claimed in court he had transferred complete ownership to his ex-wife Suzanne in 1997 and the Land Registry were wrong in recording him as the owner.

"Have I told a deliberate lie? No, and I resent the accusation," said Axford before he broke down in the witness box.

No charges were brought regarding Axford's incapacity claim, which he made for a back injury following a motorcycle accident, but it did not stop him participating in a twenty-four hour time-trial championship two years ago as a member of Addiscombe Cycling Club.

Not expecting a custodial sentence he cycled in for his sentencing today and his bike remains locked to the court's railings.

Axford failed to comply with a confiscation questionnaire and Judge Gow told him: "Responsibility to comply with the court order is yours Mr. Axford and the court has the ultimate sanction of imprisonment if you fail to comply."

Mr. Len Furlong, defending, said: "He is a man with health problems, cardiac heart disease and a degenerative spine.

"He does work within the community, carries out duties in a soup kitchen, volunteers at a crisis centre, does cycle training for the disabled and on friday's works in a charity shop for the blind."

Cannabis Smuggler Jailed For £50K Stash

A cannabis smuggler, caught at Gatwick Airport with £50,000 worth of the drug disguised as sweets, soap and various cleaning products, has been jailed for twelve months.

Horace Blackwood, 55, of Albert Road, South Norwood, pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) to importing 18.27 kilos of cannabis on December 17, last year.

He was stopped by UK Border Agency officers as he rode an assistance buggy to catch a connecting flight to Manchester.

Inside his luggage were two plastic bags containing the disguised cannabis.

In Montego Bay, Jamaica Blackwood was caught trying to smuggle a small amount of cannabis onto a UK flight in 2008 and was fined £50.

The court heard the ex-youth worker had a drug habit, but after beating his addiction relapsed and then went on to suffer depression, diabetes and heart problems.

Blackwood felt under pressure to raise cash so his sick mother could return to her native Jamaica and owed money to loan sharks.

“The most sensible thing you have done is plead guilty,” Judge Nicholas Ailey told him.

Woman Groped By Passer-By

A Bromley man with mental health issues, whose illness lowers his inhibitions, couldn't resist touching a neighbour's rear as she leaned into her car to adjust a child's seat.

Kevin Rhodes, 48, of Widmore Road pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) yesterday to assaulting Donna Gavin in nearby Florence Road on October 12, last year.

The court heard the woman was leaning into her vehcicle to adjust the child car seat when Rhodes, who was strolling past, reached out and touched her just below the bottom.

“She thought it was a friend and turned around and said: 'hello,' but it was this defendant and they were strangers to each other,” explained the prosecutor.

“She followed him in the car and took a photo of him with her phone and took it to the police, where he was recognised by a local officer.”

Rhodes, who is bi-polar, was questioned about the incident, but had no recollection.

The court heard the condition the first-time offender has reduces his inhibitions and he has been hospitalised three times with symptoms of mania.

Rhodes was conditionally discharged for twelve months.

Benefit Cheat Rented Out Spare Rooms

A benefit cheat, who rented out accommodation at his comfortable three-bedroom detached house via the UK's largest spare rooms website during a £15,000 fiddle, has avoided prison with a suspended sentence.

Jobless James Alves, 40, inherited the tenancy to the family home after his mother's cancer death in 2009 and let multiple rooms he advertised on spareroom.co.uk - typically banking monthly rental payments of £450 and £500.

First-time offender Alves, of Manor Road, Cheam pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to notify the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) of a change of circumstances in his Jobseekers Allowance claim, namely his rental income from sub-tenants between November 28, 2009 and November 12, 2010.

He also pleaded guilty to similarly failing to notify the London Borough of Sutton in relation to his claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit between August 8, 2011 and June 29, last year and making a false statement to the DWP on December 7, 2010.

Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court heard when Alves signed-on for unemployment benefit he declared having two young children, which investigators later discovered were his nephews.

He was caught after the National Fraud Initiative discovered his partner was employed by the NHS and a surveillance operation was mounted, which recorded the various tenants coming and going from the address.

When arrested, Alves, who was overpaid £15,173, said: "I put my hands up. I shouldn't have done it."

He claimed he had insufficient funds to maintain the house and under pressure to raise money decided to let the rooms secretly.

District Judge Timothy Stone told Alves: "There are all sort of mechanisms used here that aggravate the facts.

"It is a serious matter, over a long period of time, and large sums were obtained."

Alves was sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for twelve months, and was ordered to complete 180 hours community service work.

Compensation will be pursued separately.