Ringleaders of London ticket fraud gang jailed for total of 24 years
A multi-million pound counterfeit train ticket scam run by an organised crime gang has ended after its ringleaders were jailed for a total of 24 years.
The group sold the tickets for around half the price of regular tickets.
It is estimated the scam cost rail operators around £8million while it operated between 2016 and 2019.
One of its ringleaders, Manuel Da Costa Silva, became a prime suspect early into the investigation – he was the distributer and part of an organised crime group which produced and sold the tickets in London.
The scam was described as a pyramid scheme.
Silva would receive mass quantities of fake tickets and pass them onto lower level distributers, who would either sell them to customers or sell them in bulk to even lower level distributers.
The 29-year-old made a huge profit from the scam – prosecutors noted his love of designer label clothes and his expensive cars, a Porsche Panamera and a BMW I8.
Two brothers, Stefan and Sorin Covrig, and a third man, Ciprian Buda, were the manufacturers of the tickets.
They used blank tickets, card readers, computer programs and printers to produce fake tickets on a massive scale.
When their homes were raided officers seized nearly 60,000 blank tickets, which if turned into counterfeits would fetch up to £20million.
After months of investigating the group, officers moved to arrest phase, raiding homes in London and Leicester and arresting Silva, Sorin Covrig and Buda.
A joint operation with Romanian Police tracked down Stefan Covrig in his native Romania.
Further investigation identified nine others working with the group, they were all arrested for their varying degrees of involvement.
The 13-member group appeared for sentencing at Inner London Crown Court on Friday 14 February.
They were all charged with fraud.
The four ringleaders were jailed for a total of 24 years.
DC Nick Barr, of British Transport Police, said: “The actions of this gang pulled money that could’ve been used to fund security, trains and other rail services across London.
“They all made a profit, with the ring leaders earning hundreds of thousands of pounds. This money isn’t theirs to keep and we are using the law to strip them of their assets. We’ve already seized £300,000 worth of homes bought by Stefan Covrig in Romania and taken Silva’s cars.”
“This scam defrauded the public of millions of pounds that should have been invested in the transport network. We have a zero tolerance approach to any fraud on our network and welcome the news that these criminals have been brought to justice.”
Ringleaders
Stefan Covrig, 35, of Billet a Road in Chadwell Heath, London, was jailed for seven years and six months.
Sorin Covrig, 23, of Billet Road, Chadwell Heath, London, was jailed for four years and six months.
Ciprian Buda, 42, of Billet Road, Chadwell Heath, London, was jailed for four years and six months.
Manuel Da Costa Silva, 29, of Long Bridge Road, Barking, London was jailed for seven years and six months. He was also sentenced for money laundering.
Other members
Ciprian Dumitru-Stefan, 39, of Prince Regent Lane in West Bekton, London, was jailed for 11 months. He was also sentenced for money laundering.
Yusuf Bello, 27, of Prince Regent Lane in Wesy Beckton, London, was jailed for 15 months.
Rodney Capemba, 27, of Great Eastern Road, Stratford, London, was jailed for 18 months.
Mamadu Conte, 31, of Verdant Lane, Lewisham, London was jailed for 15 months.
A member of the group who can’t be named for legal reasons was jailed for 15 months.
Adrian Morarescu, 49, of Dunkeld Road, Dagenham, London, was given a 14-month suspended sentence.
Joao Pedro Martins Garcia, 33, of Eade Road, Tottenham, London was given a 150-hour community order.
Dong Nguyen, 33, of Wick Road, Hackney, London, received 120 hours of unpaid work.
Joanna Li, 26, of Meredith Street, Plaistow, London, received an 11-month suspended sentence and 100 hours of unpaid work.
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