Man who tried to pay for £200 of alcohol using fraudulent bank card is jailed

Marius Rusu, 33, was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday for possessing an article for use in fraud and fraud by false representation.

Rusu visited the Tesco store in Ramsey on March 22 where he picked up the alcohol and took it to the self-service tills. He tried to pay with a card which was declined so used a second card, needing a signature, to successfully pay for £192 of alcohol and 20p for bags.

Rusu left the store but was followed by security guards who had seen him select the alcohol but had not seen him take it to the tills.

Rusu put the alcohol in the car and came back towards the shop where he spotted staff looking at him and ran off and attempted to hide in a small ditch.

Officers attended and searched Rusu’s car where they discovered 44 bank cards in his name hidden in the driver’s door, some stored in cigarette packets. The cards all had magnetic strips but no microchips and despite seeming to be from different countries and banks, all had the same information on the back.

In interview, Rusu said he had been given the cards by a man called Daniel from Dagenham, who had asked him to use them to buy alcohol, which would then be sold on and Rusu would receive some of the profits.

DC Steve Surtees said: “Rusu was found with a huge number of these fraudulent bank cards, which would have resulted in substantial losses for the businesses he was defrauding.

“Luckily we have been able to remove these cards from circulation and we would urge businesses to be aware if someone tries to pay for items with cards that do not look genuine.”