IN THE CROWN COURT AT SOUTHWARK T201 07219

REGINA

V

JASON PLACE

and OTHERS

DEFENCE STATEMENT

COUNT!

CONSIRACY TO DEFRAUD contrary to common law

.TASON PLACE between the 151 day of January 2005 and the 8111 day of June 2009 did

conspire with BARRY CHRISTOPHER SALES, MARK POW ELL-RICHARDS ,

MICHAEL DAL Y, ALLEN STRINGER, JAIPAL SINGH, ARUN THE!\R and others to

defraud the central clearing banks, credit card companies, other financial institutions and

members of the public by dishonestly:

(i) Obtaining credit details and credit ratings of members of the public l'rom

Equifax and Experian and other sources

(ii) using the information improperly obtained in (i) above to create false identities

(i ii) selling the said false identities created in (ii) above on the intcrnet through

Confidential Access

(iv) producing and selling forged documentation to support the said false identiti es

With the intention of causing financial loss to the persons whose identities had been stolen.

the central clearing banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions.

DEFENCE CASE

1

Paragraph 45 - JP was not involved with any sales by CA to Abid Haider. In addition JP was

not involved with the alleged falsifying of the Haider paper trail.

Paragraph 80- 90- JP played no part in Creditmaster.

Paragraph 91 - 97 - JP was not involved in any test purchase

Paragraph 98 - 109- It is disputed that there is anything unlawful about using a telephone diversion service.

Paragraph 110 - 118 - Throughout his involvement with CA the use of facilities provided by Experian and Equifax was legitimate.

Paragraphs 119 - 131 - JP ' s position in relation to "payments" is sent out in his defence to

Counts 3 and 4 above and his response to the relevant prosecution admissions .

Paragraphs 132 - 210 (end) - JP's position is reflected in the substantive defence set out

above and his response to the relevant prosecution admissions .

Witness Orders:

George Xinaris OIC

EQUETC

Joanne Burnley 6-11

Alan Beavan 90-95

Russell White 267-277

Anthony Smith 302-305

Jamie Chi-Man Lee 374-376

Chi Chung Chow 382-387

David Higgins 398-405

Paul Simpson 408-411

Alex Beavan 549-558

End Page 586

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1. Jason Place (JP) did not intend that any of his actions would lead to loss to central

clearing banks, credit card companies, other financial institutions and members or the

public. It is clear from the warnings appearing on the internet site of Confi denti al

Access that the site did not support dishonest behaviour by any of its customers. The

prosecution are well aware of the said warnings and the willingness of Confidenti al

Access to assist the prosecution services in combating dishonest behaviour by its

customers.

2. It is accepted that credit information was obtained but JP does not beli eve that was

done improperly or with the intention of dishonestly using the product.

COUNT2

CONSPIRACY TO MAKE FALSE DOCUMENTS contrary to section 1 ( I ) or the Criminal

Law Act 1977

JASON PLACE between the 151 day of January 2005 and the 8111 day of June 2009 did

conspire with BARRY CHRISTOPHER SALES, MARK POWELL-RICHARDS,

MICHAEL DALY, ALLEN STRINGER, JAIPAL SINGH, ARUN THEAR and others to

MAKE DOCUMENTS (including payslips, tax forms , bank statements, utility bills and other

items) which were false.

DEFENCE CASE

I . It is not a criminal offence to make false documents ; the prosecution are asked to state

the substantive criminal offence purportedly represented in thi s count.

COUNT3

CONSPIRACY TO CONTRAVENE SECTION 25(3) OF THE IDENTITY CARDS ACT

2006

JASON PLACE between the 151 day of Jul y 2006 and the 8111 day of June 2009 did conspire

with BARRY CHRISTOPHER SALES, MICHAEL DALY, ALLEN STRINGE R . .I AIPAL

SINGH, ARUN THEAR and others to have in their possession or under their control

apparatus, articles or material specially designed or adapted to be used in the maki ng or false

identity documents with the requisite intent.

DEFENCE CASE

2

1. In August 2005 Jason Place moved to Spain. At that point he withdrew f'rom

involvement in Confidential Access and sold his interest in the enterprise to .loanne

Colomvakos aka Joanne Tragas. The agreed fee for the sale was £100.000. that fee to

be paid in instalments until fully satisfied. The transfer of CA was dependent upon the

purported continuity of involvement of the Jason Place identity and its associated good will. The deal involved Joanne Colomvakos aka Joanne Tragas having access to

the personal accounts of JP to facilitate the continuity of payments to Cl\ suppliers.

Any purported involvement of JP in the affairs of CA, by email correspondence or

otherwise, after the August 2005 date did not in fact come from or involve the

defendant Jason Place.

COUNT4

CONSPIRACY TO MAKE OR SUPPLY ARTICLES FOR USE IN THE COURSE OF

FRAUD contrary to section 1(1) ofthe Criminal Law Act 1977

JASON PLACE between the 1 i 11 day of January 2007 and the 8111 day of June 2009 did

conspire with BARRY CHRISTOPHER SALES, MARK POWELL-RJCHARDS.

MICHAEL DALY, ALLEN STRINGER, JAIPAL SINGH, ARUN THEAR and others to

make or supply articles for use in the course of fraud (namely false identity packs containing

forged documents).

DEFENCE CASE

3

1. In August 2005 Jason Place moved to Spain. At that point I:~ . withdrew from

involvement in Confidential Access and sold his interest in the enterprise to .loanne

Colomvakos aka Joanne Tragas. The agreed fee for the sale was £1 00,000, that fee to

be paid in instalments until fully satisfied. The transfer of CA was dependent upon the

purpot1ed continuity of involvement of the Jason Place identity and its associated

good will. The deal involved Joanne Colomvakos aka Joanne Tragas having access to

the personal accounts of JP to facilitate the continuity of payments to CA suppliers.

Any purp011ed involvement of JP in the affairs of CA, by email correspondence or

otherwise, after the August 2005 date did not in fact come from or involve the

defendant Jason Place.

PROSECUTION DRAFT OPENING NOTE

In addition to the above substantive defence points the defence on behalf of Jason Place have

attempted below and in the response to the prosecution proposed admissions (see separate

document) to define the points upon which there is challenge.

Paragraph 1 - CA was not in the business of providing fraudsters with the tool s they would

need to create false identities in order to carry out their fraud.

Paragraph 2 - The prosecution fundamentally misunderstand the service provided by CA; it

did not involve stealing the identities of" ... ordinary people such as yo u and me . . . o

identities were stolen.

Paragraph 4 - There is no dispute that the activities of CA were internet based and it may be

the case that the associated chat room generated discussions associated with fraud.

unfortunately JP does not have the power to control the thoughts of the chat room users.

Fraud was discouraged by JP and he can bear no responsibility for any use of his legi timate

business by unscrupulous and dishonest users.

Paragraph 5 - CA provided an opportunity for users to re-build a credit status by using an

identity that contained elements other than their own. This was only sanctioned by CA if the

user fulfilled all commitments associated with the new identity. If the user was true to that

condition then there would be no loss to any financial institution or anybody else.

Paragraph 8 - The service provided by CA did include " ... entertainment or educational and

novelty ... " items including documents with the face of Mr Bean or bearing the name or

David Becld1am. Other documents that raised the personal profile of an individual including

bank statements and the like were also available and as stated a route to a new credit status was also available. None of the services were provided to facilitate di shonest activities : JP

never agreed with anybody to engage in dishonesty and in fact made it clear on the web site

that this was not sanctioned. Throughout the indictment period JP believed that he was not

acting dishonestly.

Paragraph 12 -JP did not operate Creditmaster or Masters of Credit. JP was not invo lved in

any agreement involving a 50% share in the proceeds of any loan or at all.

Paragraph 19 - Reference to hard-drives of computers seized in June 2009 from Place in

Spain (DMH/CS3/57 and DMH/CS3/64) appears to ignore the fact that the computers were

not seized from the address JP was living at; the premises were occupied .JP's mother. brother

and another. JP had moved from the address in August 2008.

Paragraph 24 - It is not disputed that JP was commercially involved in CA but that ceased

when he moved to Spain in August 2005.

Paragraph 32 - It is not accepted that it was the defendant Jason Place who on 26111

September

2008 created a 192.com account.

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