In July 2020, officers from the RGP's Economic Crime Unit arrested and charged four members of an organised crime group; Mohamed ABDULKADIR MUSSE, Ali Mohamed ABDIRAHMAN, Hassan SIKLAWI and Touwana MOHAMED, all UK nationals, for fraud offences.
The defendants had travelled to Gibraltar in March 2020 and purchased luxury items from numerous retail shops in Main Street, using stolen credit card details that allow the credit card number with the expiry date and the CVV security number to be entered manually into Point of Sales machines. This type of fraud is often not discovered until the owner of the credit card sees the transaction on their statement sometime after the event, making apprehension of these types of organised crime groups very difficult.
The defendants returned to Gibraltar in July 2020, when they continued with the same criminal operation. However, quick reactions from retail staff and rapid response from the RGP meant the defendants were apprehended, charged and remanded in custody. In total, the defendants had purchased over £10,000 worth of luxury items. The defendants appeared before the Supreme Court on Friday 30th October 2020 where they pleaded guilty. MUSSE and ABDIRAHMAN were sentenced to 6 months imprisonment and the other two defendants, to 15 weeks.
As a result of close collaboration between officers of the Economic Crime and the Swiss Authorities, it was ascertained that the defendants were wanted in Switzerland for frauds committed in similar fashion to those in Gibraltar, to a value of approximately £114,000, and that the Swiss authorities would be seeking extradition. Upon being released from HMP, the defendants were arrested under the Extradition Act on the belief that an international Arrest Warrant would be issued. The defendants will appear at the Magistrates Court first thing this morning.
The RGP continues in its commitment to work in partnership with foreign Law Enforcement Agencies to tackle cross border crime and dismantling Organised Crime Groups who use international frontiers to try and stay out of reach of the law.