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news
Barclays Cycle Hire bikesBoris bike scammers jailed for £42,000 fraud
Two Boris bike workers who made bogus refund payments to friends totalling £42,000 have been jailed.
Nana Boateng and Jose Dias, both 26, worked in the cycle hire customer contact centre, where they authorised false refunds to seven friends. They made a guilty plea in March at Southwark Crown Court.
The refund payments are typically made to customers who are charged wrongly for their bike use; from a £1 charge when there is no paper in the machine to print a bike release code on, to a £300 charge for failing to dock a bike properly on its return.
Working in the north London contact centre, Dias paid out over £24,000 to friends over a two-day period, the Independent reported.
The scam began when the pair realised that TfL was not enforcing the rule that cash refunds had to be authorised by a manager, and began issuing them themselves, between September and December 2010.
Boateng was jailed for nine months, including one month for breaching an order for a separate offence, and Dias was sentenced to six months in jail.
Boateng’s barrister, Alexander Williams, called the crime ‘opportunistic’ and said that his client had only received around £8,000, of which he sent half to a sick aunt in Ghana.
Judge Alistair McCreath also handed out suspended prison sentences and community orders to the seven friends, who were convicted of money laundering offences.
Latest Comments
- hawkinspeter 3 sec ago
I've just been up Pilemarsh and there were quite a few cars using it too - I imagine quite a few drivers will get caught out when they start...
- Rendel Harris 5 min 24 sec ago
Schrödinger's mizzle, where whether it is raining or not is dependent upon the observer.
- David9694 22 min 57 sec ago
Going home, running home Down to Gasoline Alley where I started from Going home, and I'm running home Down to Gasoline Alley where I was born
- chrisonabike 34 min 29 sec ago
It's just easier to "negotiate" when both parties are much more similar in vulnerability, manoeuvrability, speed, width, etc. than those in motor...
- chrisonabike 40 min 32 sec ago
Done - caveat that a) the entire width wasn't used for the cycle lane and b) not in the UK....
- OldRidgeback 1 hour 18 min ago
Hmm, not a word about BMX bikes. My sons graduated in turn from the little Raleigh and went onto a BMX with an 18" wheel bought from (the horror)...
- Les Ed 1 hour 30 min ago
I've just read that is someone with 217 points.
- Natrix 1 hour 38 min ago
As reported by Albert Londres in the Parisian newspaper in 1924............
- Shades 2 hours 24 min ago
Feels a bit unfair to refer to the entire B2B cycle path when this only affects the 1/3 of the route closest to Bristol (bandit country); only...
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42 comments
Do not feed the Troll.
The nationality of the perpetrators, and their 'race' has obscured everything else here (there is an argument that the term 'race' is 'racist' in itself, i.e. that there's no scientific justification for the idea of 'race'). Whatever their origins, they have committed a shameful crime - what about some comments on that?
The Boris Bikes were a fantastic idea, but Transport London has got the pricing horribly wrong in my humble opinion. Too expensive to use for more than an hour, and far too expensive if you make a mistake, like going over your alloted time, or miss the docking - £300??? Absurd. All the bother you have to get the money back, if you ever do getit back. The risk of something going wrong puts a lot of people off. Still in essence an excellent public service idea. Ripping them off is nasty.
That Cameron Diaz must be a real nasty piece of work, if names are anything to go by.
normally i reserve the pictures of kittens for helmet debates, but i'm prepared to make an exception here
I love road.cc!
Can you please set up a separate thread, preferably on a separate forum for all the above?
I came one here to read something about Boris Bikes and fraud, although the "fraud" appears to be in the misleading article post......
Let his epitath read: "Personally Abusive!"
No you haven't been offensive (sorry but personally abusive is grating now) to anyone here. The point is the original remark was racist. Unless of course you could enlighten us to the real meaning.
Whats worse than your racism is the fact that you don't even have the courage to stand up for your convictions. Instead you cry "personally abusive!" as a shield for your racist bile.
Spineless, pathetic and despicable you make me ashamed to call myself Scottish. Unless of course you were seeking asylum in Cumbernauld perhaps?
Maybe referring to Nana and Jose only really committing a minor fraud when all the really big fraud is committed by white men in suits claiming to be in banking or insurance.
Pointing out an ethnic divide is not racism.
So Dream .... what was your point?
dreamlx10, I was going to offer to lend you my shovel to carry on digging this tremendous hole you seem to have got yourself into...but it looks as though you've fashioned some kind of tool out of the words 'personally' and 'abusive' and that's doing a pretty good job for you at the mo.
Carry on.
"your stupidity" Again personally abusive.
There's no abuse in my comment. I'd just like you to explain what you said in your first post and justify your reasons for making it. Once you've made this point clear, we can all move on.
"Why not clear your name" Clear my name of what ? Is this a sixteenth century witch hunt, what happened to innocent until proven guilty ?
Clear your name of the suspicion of being a xenophobic bigot. You made a comment which at face value appears to be that of a racist. You have been invited to clarify if this was intended. You have chosen not to.
It's hardly the Spanish inquisition (good thing too, those dirty foreigners), just an opportunity for you to let people know that you're not as ignorant and hateful as your first post implies, and that it's all been a big misunderstanding.
It seems to me that dreamx10 has backed themselves into a corner and is just shouting loudly with their fingers in their ears at anyone who's questioning the original comment.
The answer is simple: justify it and we'll all move on. Otherwise, shut up and accept the backlash for your stupidity.
"Maybe not, but you have been a racist arse" Yet again personally abusive to me when I have not been abusive to you.
It isn't racist as there is no mention by me of nationality, skin colour or any other type of sensitive profile.
What exactly did you mean by your first comment? Clearly some of us have interpreted it as being xenophobic and bigoted (or, in common parlance, racist). What did you mean to imply by stating their names and then "say no more"? Why not clear your name by explaining this misunderstanding?
Ah, so you clearly mean then that it's your personal experience that people with those particular names (I'm not sure if it's the surname, or the first name, or both) are habitual crooks.
And it's nothing to do with them just being a bit foreign-sounding, and hence suspect. If you're a bit racist.
Thanks for clearing that up
Jimmy Carr, say no more.
"Kevin Prince Boateng is German. José Gonzalez is Swedish." Hmmm I think you're stretching things a bit there.
not really, boateng was born in germany, and gonzalez in sweden. hence, they're german and swedish, respectively.
unless... well, they do sound a bit, y'know, foreign. and all them foreign are crooks. so they might be lying.
care to explain your first comment and how it isn't racist? then all this stops.
"you're a racist arse" again personally abusive, I have not been personally abusive to anyone on this forum.
Seriously? You're still crying about being given stick for a racist remark? There has to be some irony in there somewhere!
No you weren't abusive to anyone on this forum. Just to two people you haven't met based on their possible ethnicity.
Still waiting to hear you elaborate on the first comment?
Maybe not, but you have been a racist arse.
yeah, that's about right. axis was taking you on, personally, for a stupid thing you said. not making casually racist remarks about people who may or may not be foreign, based on their names.
what's obvious? that they have foreign-sounding names? Kevin Prince Boateng is German. José Gonzalez is Swedish. Are you saying that German and Swedish people are crooks? i'm not sure i understand your 'obvious' point, unless it's that all them foreign are crooks, in which case i do understand and you're a racist arse, like what axis said.
"don't sully this website with your casual racism and you won't suffer any personal abuse. simple, really."
Alleged racism bad, personal abuse ok? Is that about right ?
Yes. Can someone just delete this idiot's account or shall we just continue with personal abuse they deserve?
"casual racism" Is pointing out the obvious racism ? And apologies about the spelling, we all make mistakes.
"Cycling is, as a general rule, a very inclusive sport", I think the article was about a criminal act, which happened to involve bicycles, not racing bicycles at that. As a general rule i think cycling is generally not inclusive in the way you are implying.
I made no mention of "casual" racism. I think you are referring to someone elses post. If you use the quote function it can help clarify things.
We're now falling into the standard forum arguement of nitpicking while ignoring the big racist elephant in the corner. However i would point out that road.cc is populated by the cycling community, that includes commuters, racers and casual cyclists. I made no mention of racing? When i refer to the community i refer not just to those i race against but the myriad of people i nod to everyday in town.
You realise none of this detracts from the fact that the very first thing you said is blatantly racist.
Rather than just sling mud in the traditional manner of the internetz, just explain your comment? Maybe we all misunderstood?
The problem is that it's not obvious (to me, anyway) what you are pointing out. It looks like you're implying that because these people have foreign sounding (to you) names, that it's not surprising they stole thousands of pounds.
If I've misinterpreted you, you have the opportunity to put me (and my foreign sounding name) straight. You'll notice I haven't yet called you racist, just pointed out that your comment could give that impression.
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