Brothers jailed for rebadging fraud

Two brothers have each been sentenced to four years imprisonment after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to handle stolen computer equipment worth more than #2.5 million at Kingston Crown Court last week.

Anthony P Brown, 35, of Beckton, and Emmanuel A Brown, 36, of Hackney, were arrested last April after stolen computer equipment was recovered from a residential property in Hackney.

The prosecution in the case claimed that the two brothers had supplied PCs manufactured by IBM, Toshiba, Hewlett Packard and Compaq under the name BAB Group.

The computers had fake serial numbers and counterfeit labels attached in such a way that they disguised the brand names. They were then sold on to a number of legitimate businesses.

Police also found Compaq registration disks and Toshiba registration documents on the premises, which had been removed from the boxes to prevent the owners registering the PCs after purchase.

The company had used four bank accounts at different branches of National Westminster Bank over a five-year period. The accounts showed withdrawals of #2.8 million, of which #1.8 million was in cash. There were also deposits of over #200,000 at various times.

The vendors of the stolen equipment were not available to comment on the value of money lost each year through computer theft.