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Crims in £160m broadband scam facing 44 years of porridge

'Not one of you has accepted dishonest involvement,' says judge

Four men, who conned Barclays Bank and Belgian banking group KBC out of £160m in a super fast broadband scam, have today been sentenced to a collective 44 years in the clink.

The individuals presented bogus broadband contracts to the banks, which were tricked into issuing huge loans to H20 Networks through Total Asset Finance. Those businesses purported to roll out fibre optic cables across the UK.

H2O supplied fibre-optic internet cable connections and its unique selling point was that it used sewers as channels for these internet cables. It targeted public institutions such as local authorities, universities, colleges and the NHS with long-term payment contracts.

George Alexander and Stephen Dartnell of Total Asset Limited, trading as Total Asset Finance, were both sentenced to 12 and 15 years respectively at Southwark Crown Court, in London, England, today.

Simon Mundy who worked for KBC Lease was sentenced to seven years. Carl Cumiskey of H2O Networks Limited was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

The four had been found guilty by a jury earlier this week of conspiring to commit fraud and conspiracy to make corrupt payments.

Judge Gledhill QC said: “The evidence against each of you was compelling. Not one of you has accepted dishonest involvement in these offences.

"Of course, you have each accepted that with hindsight that fraud was committed, but have sought to exonerate yourselves. One of the least attractive aspects of the case has been the attempts of each of you to blame others, including each other, for what happened.” ®

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