Fraudsters who used stolen bank cards hundreds of times in Peterborough avoid jail

Petro Bartkus and Yuriy Batyuk, both originally from Ukraine, used the contactless feature on the Russian cards scores of times- often at the businesses they were working at.

In total Bartkus gained £2,829.43 as a result, and Batyuk £3,418.84.

Yesterday (Wednesday) they appeared at Peterborough Crown Court where Bartkus (36) of Elborne Way, Peterborough pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud, and one count of possession of an article for use in fraud. Batyuk (34) of Monument Street, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of fraud.

Peterborough Crown Court heard the frauds mainly took place between March and June 2015 - although some also took place at the beginning of 2016.

The court was told contactless cards normally have an in-built security measure, meaning if the card is used a certain number of times in a day, the user has to enter the PIN - but the five cards used by Bartkus and Batyuk had the security measure removed. It was not known how or why the security measure had been removed.

The cards were used to pay for petrol and lottery scratchcards - as well as at the car wash Batyuk was associated with, and the tyre firm Bartkus was associated with. Both men used the cards about 155 times each.

When officers raided the pair’s home, they seized a large amount of cash.

Judge Matthew Lowe gave both men a ten month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered them to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. They were also ordered to pay £465 costs each.