A man has been sentenced to prison for defrauding organizations across the UK through salary sacrifice schemes.
Joshua Murrell’s fraudulent activities came to light in January of last year when a company reported that several employee reward accounts had been compromised. Investigations revealed that most email addresses linked to these accounts had been changed to disposable addresses within the same email provider, all accessed from a single IP address.
Further inquiries traced the IP address to Murrell’s residence in Kingswinford, where the 26-year-old was living at the time. Following this, authorities executed a search warrant, leading to Murrell’s arrest and the seizure of his mobile phone and laptop.
Analysis of his devices uncovered multiple voice messages exchanged with 24-year-old Dominic Smith, discussing their illegal activities. It was discovered that the duo had infiltrated various organizations’ salary sacrifice schemes, ordering vouchers for the Cycle2Work program as well as electronic items like Xbox games and iPhones.
Through their hacking operation, Murrell and Smith stole over £40,000. Both men faced charges including conspiracy to defraud, multiple counts of fraud by false representation, and possession of items intended for use in fraud. They pleaded guilty to all charges in a previous hearing.
Last Friday, Murrell was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison at Wolverhampton Crown Court, while Smith received a two-year suspended sentence.
Detective Constable Louise Watt from the Regional Organised Crime Unit remarked, “Murrell was the mastermind behind the operation, with Smith acting as his accomplice in their attempts to steal thousands from large companies. Thanks to the compelling evidence and diligent work of our officers, we have successfully brought them to justice.”