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TWO Nigerian brothers who entered the country on false passports walked into casual jobs as postmen in Ormskirk and one rifled mail to get credit card details.
TWO Nigerian brothers who entered the country on false passports walked into casual jobs as postmen in Ormskirk and one rifled mail to get credit card details.
The envelopes were then re-sealed and sent on to the correct recipients, but meanwhile the details were fraudulently used to make telephone and internet purchases - including the services of a dating agency.
Their dishonesty came to light after they tried to open accounts at a Liverpool bank using other fake passports and a sharp-eyed cashier was suspicious and alerted the police.
"When officers raided their home they found seven Royal Mail delivery bags and a notebook containing credit card details of 192 people," said Miss Anne Whyte, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court.
Inquiries revealed they had been working on a casual basis for the Royal Mail at the Ormskirk, Maghull and Bootle sorting offices. The credit card details stolen from the mail were used to obtain goods and services totalling nearly £12,000.
Jailing the men, Judge Mark Brown said: "If there was ever a case for the credit card companies and banks to tighten up procedures, then this is it."
He also told Olalekan Oshinibosi and Richard Oshinibosi: "The courts have to take a very serious view of people who come into the country on a false passport to gain work in sensitive positions such as the Royal Mail.
"The public is rightly concerned about illegal immigration. It was worrying how easily you entered the UK with a false passport. It is deeply worrying that such passports are widely available to such people like you and it is worrying how easily you gained entry into the UK."
Judge Brown told Olalekan Oshinibosi, 33: "You gained employment as a postman and in that capacity you were able to interfere with the Royal Mail, getting credit card and bank account details. No doubt that is why you get that work. "
Olalekan Oshinibosi, of Hannan Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to five deception offences, two of using a false instrument and one of intefering with the mail. He was jailed for three years and three months.
His 28-year-old brother, of the same address, who admitted one fraud offence and two of using a false instrument, was jailed for 15 months. Judge Brown recommended that both men be deported when they have served their sentences.
Miss Whyte told Liverpool Crown Court that their dishonesty came to light in June this year when they went to the HSBC bank in Prescot Road, Kensington. They had arrived in this country using fake Nigerian passports.
They produced fake passports to open accounts and the police were alerted by staff.