MELBOURNE: A Malaysian couple who helped an international crime syndicate fleece hundreds of thousands of dollars from Melbourne businesses have been jailed.
Kenny Lim and wife, Sok Lim, were key players in the highly-sophisticated credit card fraud gang, the County Court heard yesterday.
The pair were part of the well-run operation that used stolen credit card details to net more than A$200,000, the Herald Sun reports.
The stolen details from countries including Chile, South Africa, Yugoslavia and Germany were used in the 12-month operation.
Judge David Parsons said the gang imported and embossed the counterfeit credit cards before handing them to Malaysian nationals recruited as “shoppers”.
Other members of the gang included a syndicate head, card distribution controllers and drivers.
As shoppers, the Lims were paid up to 12 per cent commission for goods they bought, using the fraudulent bank cards that had been imported by senior figures in the group, said Parsons.
They were instructed to buy items such as laptops, iPads, cigars and luxury goods that were later sold before money was transferred to beneficiaries in Malaysia.
The court heard the struggling couple transferred more than A$285,000 to Malaysia where they had left a young child with grandparents before moving to Melbourne.
The pair pleaded guilty to a string of deception charges.
The judge jailed Kenny Lim to three years and six months. He must serve at least, two and a half years before becoming eligible for parole.
Sok Lim was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine months.
Both face deportation when they are released from jail. — Bernama