Skimmer 'copied 63 cash cards'

9:25am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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A MAN who admitted being part of a gang who fitted a so-called skimming device to an Oxford cash machine was jailed for more than three years yesterday.

Oxford Crown Court heard Florin Solomon, 25, travelled from London to Oxford in June last year to help fit a cloning device at a NatWest cash machine in Cornmarket Street.

Solomon, of Westward Road, Walthamstow, admitted conspiracy to defraud at an earlier hearing, but claimed he didn't realise the exact nature of what he was involved in.

Jonathan Stone, prosecuting, said two car loads of men travelled to the city and fitted the skimming device and a camera to the machine.

He said: "Mr Solomon was close by and he had a satchel. The bag was believed to have contained a camcorder with a bluetooth receiver to receive images from a pin-hole camera above the cash point.

"This device was left on the machine for about 45 minutes.

"During the time the device was on the machine it copied details from 63 separate cards."

Mr Stone said police seized the device after a member of the public reported concerns and later arrested Solomon as he fled from a car in Gloucester Green car park.

Martin Henley, defending, said: "The role Mr Solomon played in this conspiracy was absolutely key.

"He says he was a gopher.

"He was assisting the driver. Their role in this was to transport some or all of the equipment."

Sentencing Solomon to 39 months in jail, Mr Recorder Harold Persaud said: "This was a well-planned operation.

"You travelled from Walthamstow to defraud the citizens of Oxford."