A fraudster has been jailed for five years after a photo of his baby surrounded by piles of money was used by police as evidence against him.
Adu Bunu, 34, was convicted at Hull Crown Court over a Ј40,000 scheme which saw more than 2,000 bank cards cloned.
The scam targeted cash machines outside supermarkets including one in Beverley and Willerby in East Yorkshire.
Romanian national Bunu, of St Oswald Road, Wakefield, had the picture of his son with the cash on his mobile phone.
The court was told Bunu cloned the cards and then used them to withdraw money from other cash points across the country.
Bunu, who police believed worked with an accomplice who is still being hunted, fitted false fronts to the cash machines which were able to record both the magnetic strip identifying cards and pin numbers typed in by their owners.
Police said he netted Ј43,000 but had the potential to steal more than Ј1m.
He claimed the picture of his baby son surrounded by money was part of a Romanian tradition celebrating the christening of his child.
But the jury dismissed his claims and he was found guilty of conspiracy to clone bank cards.
Det Sgt Neil Clarkson from the Humberside Police Economic Crime Section said: "This was obviously a well-organised card cloning operation where more than 2,000 card details were recovered.
"Although not all card details had been used, if they had all been used, then according to banking guidelines, he had the potential to recover more than Ј1m."
(BBC)
<< Back