Fraudsters jailed

Two visitors to the island who admitted using fraudulent or cloned credit cards to obtain goods and services were sentenced Tuesday to 16 months’ imprisonment.  

The Malaysian nationals pleaded guilty to obtaining or attempting to obtain money transfers (the credit card transactions) by deception.  

Thanabalan Manogar, 31, admitted obtaining watches and other items valued at US$86,623.65 and attempting to obtain goods with a value of $39,610. He had 58 credit cards with his name on them when he was arrested. 

Hew Senn Wann, 51, admitted obtaining watches and other items valued at $74,164.72 and attempting to obtain goods with a value of $36,002.50. When arrested, he had 51 credit cards in his name and two cards bearing no name, Crown Counsel Toyin Salako told Justice Malcolm Swift. 

An earlier sentencing date was postponed because Manogar speaks little English and an Tamil language interpreter was needed. An interpreter was present Tuesday. Defense attorney John Furniss said Wann’s English was adequate. 

The men arrived on island separately and stayed in different hotels, but when arrested, gave the same account of how they came to be in Cayman, Ms. Salako detailed. Both owed money to someone named Tong, and in order to clear their debt, they were offered a job. Tong asked for their passports and they were then notified that their job involved travel to Grand Cayman. Their passports were returned to them, and Wann arrived on Oct. 1, 2013, and Manogar on Oct. 2. 

The men accepted that they had never applied for a credit card, so the inference was that they must have known the cards were fraudulent or cloned when they were each handed more than 50, Ms. Salako said. 

The court heard that Wann bought a Rolex watch at Kirk jewelers on Cardinall Avenue for US$32,002.50. He presented four credit cards, all of which were declined. Eventually the transaction went through, and Wann then purchased a second Rolex for $US35,147.50.  

Later, he tried to buy a bracelet and ring valued at $4,000 from Magnum jewelers at the Marriott. He presented 18 different cards, but all were declined.  

Later that day, both men went to Kirk jewelers in Bayshore Mall, where Manogar bought a $US44,550 watch. The credit card transaction was approved and Manogar then presented the same card to purchase another watch for US$39,610, but this time the card was declined. He then produced another card and it was authorized. 

Meanwhile, Wann presented three different cards to try to buy a watch, but all were declined. He left, and Manogar followed shortly. 

The Kirk staff were suspicious and watched as the men met down the street. A store manager contacted card security and discovered the cards were counterfeit. Police were called to investigate.  

On Manogar’s cell phone were instructions about flying to Cayman, filling out the immigration form, seeking a new employee to do his transactions with, and messages about two watches. 

Defense attorney Prathna Bodden said Manogar had borrowed money from the “loan shark” Tong and couldn’t pay it back. He was supporting his wife, two children, an aunt and his grandmother. After losing his job, Tong took advantage of the situation. 

Mr. Furniss said Wann, whose elderly mother was in the hospital, had borrowed money. After his job ended, he was told by Tong that if he did this job, he would no longer be required to make loan payments.  

Presenting 18 cards one after another was not very professional, Mr. Furniss commented: “It was asking for trouble.” Wann was used by the person who sent him, but he accepted that he acted dishonestly, the attorney concluded. 

Justice Swift said that Cayman, like so many small jurisdictions, is particularly vulnerable to this type of fraud. Shop staff are familiar with foreign tourists purchasing high-value goods with foreign credit cards, and are familiar with occasions when there are perfectly innocent explanations for a card not to be accepted. “You and your handlers were taking advantage of that loophole in the credit card system,” he told the defendants.  

Aggravating factors included the degree of planning, the operation of a gang or group, the professional level of offending, the high value of goods involved and potential profit.  

The judge took two years as the starting point for sentencing and then gave a full one-third credit for the guilty pleas. The effect was a sentence of 16 months, with credit given for time in custody since arrest in October.