A 37-year-old man from Cheshire has been sentenced to 20
months in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding businesses
with fakeData Protection Actregistrations.
Between December 2002 and April 2004, Christopher Williams of
Hoole deceived businesses into believing that he was an agent
working on behalf of the
Information Commissioner's
Office (ICO), and stole a total of £400,000 from them.
He sent fake forms to companies requiring them to register under
the Data Protection Act and demanding they pay him a fee of between
£95 and £135.
Williams, along with one other man, ran a number of bogus
agencies that directly targeted businesses.
The prosecution follows a joint investigation by Merseyside
Police, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and Tameside
Trading Standards.
Simon Entwisle, chief operating officer at the ICO, said, "The
ICO will continue to work with other authorities to bring people to
justice who try to extort money from businesses in this way."
Earlier this year, Francis Boyd was sentenced to two and a half
years' imprisonment for his involvement in the bogus agencies. Both
defendants could be forced to pay back the cash through the
Proceeds of Crime Act.
www.ico.gov.uk >>
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