A prolific fraudster from York who fleeced individuals and companies out of tens of thousands of pounds has been jailed for three years.
Nicholas Arran Whiteside raked in more than £100,000 from his ‘abhorrent’ scams, a court heard.
He was brought to justice after a multi-team investigation by British Transport Police (BTP), North Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Police.
Whiteside, 26, of Holgate Road, York, conducted his fraudulent activities for nearly two years before being brought to book.
Across 2018 and 2019, he hit rail ticket providers, shops, a health club and individuals – even his own work colleagues.
Using fraudulently obtained bank cards he bought train tickets via the Trainline website – making more than 100 bookings in total.
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That forced Trainline to issue chargebacks which cost the company tens of thousands of pounds in losses.
Whiteside also used scam bank cards to buy gift cards from shops in Sheffield’s Meadowhall Shopping Centre. He used these to buy high value items such as laptops and iPads.
Targeted colleagues
Alongside these large scale scams he was targeting individuals. In the summer of 2019 he offered heavily discounted tickets for travel and entertainment to his work colleagues.
By the time they identified the tickets as fake, Whiteside had resigned from the organisation.
His fraudulent activity also targeted a health club by setting up a corporate account for 200 employees, a car garage to hire and use an expensive car and a letting company to rent apartments across York.
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He appeared at Inner London Crown Court on 21 October 2021 where he pleaded guilty to 18 counts of fraud.
On Friday (28 January), a judge sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment.
BTP’s investigating officer DC Adrienne Curzon said: “Whiteside’s relentless offending targeted an array of individuals and businesses, he had no set victim and aimed to defraud anyone he could for his own financial greed.
“Working closely with our policing colleagues at North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire on this complex investigation was essential to ensuring he faced justice and was sufficiently punished for his criminal enterprise.
“I hope he spends his time behind bars wisely and considers a new career path on the right side of the law for when he returns to the community.”
DS Kyle Boad, of North Yorkshire Police’s York and Selby Investigation Hub, said: “Nicholas Whiteside has caused nothing but misery and anguish to the many victims he has targeted over the years, including those in York and North Yorkshire and around the country.
“Motivated solely by greed, he has lied and cheated his way at every turn with the ruthless intention of defrauding innocent people and businesses.
“His offending is truly abhorrent, and he deserves nothing less than a significant period of time in prison.”