Three imprisoned over ID thefts

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Three men have been sentenced to nine months' imprisonment each for their roles in an international identity theft network known as Shadowcrew.

Richard Daniel Smith, 25, from Camberley, Surrey, had produced counterfeit driving licences and domestic bills for sale.

Michael Murphy, 24, from Northwich, Cheshire, had a senior role in running the network's website.

Ibrahim Kotwal, 25, from Bolton, sold birth dates allowing IDs to be stolen.

They were among 28 people arrested in seven countries during the year-long Operation Firewall.

Fake credit cards

When police searched Smith's home they found a huge amount of forgery equipment including high definition scanners and printers, a laminator and numerous examples of identity documents from around the world.

Murphy used the online identity EvisuGold and was a "moderator" for the website; numerous banking documents and credit cards in multiple names were seized from his home, the Serious Organised Crime Agency said.

The network was investigated by Soca and the US Department of Justice.

The sentencing comes months after a fourth Briton - Bryn Wellman - was sentenced to six years for his part in the conspiracy.

He was also jailed for a further six years for membership of another plot, which police say had the potential to earn him £10m.