TWO men have been jailed for a total of more than five years after admitting making £1m by creating nearly 100 fake bank accounts.

Anastasios Sotiropoulos (57) and Dionysios Tsekleris (42), both of Humshaugh, were sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to multiple offences, including fraud and money laundering, against national and international financial institutions over a prolonged period of time.  

Their crimes came to light in August 2017 when the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Cyber and Serious Crime Team were contacted by a member of staff at MBNA Bank with concerns they had multiple credit accounts held in different names.

As a result of the initial enquiry, it quickly became apparent to police that the people behind the fraud had used in excess of 80 different fake names, addresses, company names and date of birth combinations to obtain in excess of £1m from various banks and financial institutions in credit and loan applications.

Police enquiries established Sotiropoulos and Tsekleris were living at an address on Spring Lane in Waterden, Norfolk, however, the men then moved to an address in Humshaugh where they were living under false names.

Officers from the Norfolk and Suffolk Cyber and Serious Crime Unit, supported by Northumbria Police, executed a search warrant at the address  on August 2 last year.

While both Sotiropoulos and Tsekleris were not at the premises, police discovered a substantial amount of evidence including false identity cards, blank plastic cards, forged bank statements, blank wage slips, mobile phones, documents in alias names and equipment used to produce false documents.

The men were eventually tracked down to Chollerford, where they were arrested.

In interview both men admitted their roles in the fraud and how they used the money to fund their lifestyles, including purchasing expensive cars, art, antiques, travel and staying in high class hotels.

Sotiropoulos was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for seven counts of fraud and one count of money laundering.

Tsekleris was sentenced to 15 months in prison for one count of money laundering.

Ian Addison, fraud investigator and financial intelligence officer from the Norfolk and Suffolk Cyber and Serious Crime Team, said: "This was a lengthy and complex case which required us to use all our investigation techniques in order to secure evidence and trace both Sotiropoulos and Tsekleris who had gone to great lengths to try and hide their true location.

"This investigation demonstrates our commitment to bringing offenders to justice.”