Four men sentenced for spending spree on stolen credit cards

Four men who admitted using credit cards stolen from gym lockers to fund a lavish spending spree have been sentenced at the Inner London Crown Court.

Justin Adoteye (33), Kevin Smith (36), Daniel Wade (33), and Dean Burns (34) were sentenced following a six-month spending spree which saw them splash out on a number of high-value goods, as well as trips to exclusive bars, shops, restaurants and nightclubs between March and September 2015.

The judgement follows an extensive investigation by Detective Constable Trish Fleming of the City of London Police Major Crime Team into the theft of credit cards from legitimate cardholders while they were using the facilities at various gyms within the Square Mile, and other parts of London.

After the matter was reported to police, a pattern of offending was established and detectives used CCTV to link several thefts from multiple gym lockers within the Square Mile and the wider London area, over the preceding six months.

The offending stopped abruptly in September 2015 when Adoteye was spotted by an officer of the City of London Police Crime Squad entering a gym in the Barbican under the false name of “Justin Leonard”.  He was arrested and found in possession of someone else’s credit card.

It was identified that Adoteye had taken out several gym memberships under his fake name throughout 2015 and visited gyms across the capital including in Bank, Moorgate, Aldersgate, Barbican, Chelsea, Mayfair, and Kensington.

All four men gave ‘no comment’ interviews but subsequent telephone enquiries revealed extensive contact between Adoteye, Wade, Burns and Smith before, during and after the thefts.

In Feb 2016, Wade, Burns and Smith were arrested for their role in the scam, which saw Adoteye and Smith enter the gyms to steal the cards, before they were used in a variety of shops, bars and clubs such as Selfridges, Hugo Boss, Claridges, London Camera Exchange, Nobu, Mayfair Hotel, New Bond Street, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Apple, and Lacoste. On one occasion, £11,000 was spent in one trip to Selfridges, while more modest purchases were also made at Tesco, Nando’s and other retail outlets.

At earlier court hearings, Adoteye, Smith and Wade pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to commit fraud; Burns admitted a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Adoteye, of Dunscombe Road, N19; and Wade, of Lady Margaret Road, N19 were sentenced to three years in prison, concurrent on each count. Burns, of Groveside Road, E4 received a one-year custodial sentence; and Smith, of no fixed abode, was handed a 20-month term, suspended for two years, as well as unpaid work of 200 hours.

Detective Constable Trish Fleming, from the City of London Police Major Crime Team, said: “These four men assumed they could enjoy a lavish lifestyle by stealing from others, and they will now face the consequences of their actions.“I hope today’s sentence shows that we will use everything at our disposal to tackle this type of crime and bring offenders to justice.”