Three men were jailed earlier this month for their parts in an attempt to steal carbon credits worth around €8 million.
According to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the attempted theft, which took place between June and November 2011, involved attacks on a number of websites.
Carbon Credit Crimes in the EU
One targeted the Spanish Carbon Credit Registry RENADE, from which 350,000 European Union Allowances (carbon credits) were transferred without authority into a brokerage account. This account was frozen before more than 8,340 of the credits were sold on.
The other attempt targeted the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism Registry. On this occasion the defendants tried to transfer 426,108 Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits, but the plan fell through when Registry administrators spotted that an incorrect account number had been used.
The man behind the computer hacking, 32-year-old Matthew Beddoes, was arrested in November 2011, and pleaded guilty in May last year to various offences, including money laundering, fraud and conspiracy to commit Computer Misuse Act offences against the two Registries.
He was sentenced to two years nine months in prison for these offences.
Two other men were involved in the attempt. According to SOCA, Jasdeep Singh Randhawa pleaded guilty to four offences relating to conspiracy to commit Computer Misuse Act offences, and received a 21 months sentence.
Jandeep Singh Sangha pleaded guilty to two money laundering offences and was sentenced to twelve months in prison, suspended for two years.
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If you have been charged with a criminal offence similar to the carbon credit offences described above or in respect of any type of crime, contact us now. Please contact Jeffrey Lewis or Siobhain Egan, or click here to get in touch with our london criminal defence solicitors via our online enquiry form.
This blog is provided as a news item only. No connection between LNL and the parties involved is intended or implied.