Craig Anderson from Dartford was jailed for four years and eight months

Three men were jailed last Thursday (March 29) at Southwark Crown Court, concluding a case which has seen 11 people sentenced to a total of 13 years and four months imprisonment for fraud and money laundering offences.

Principle organiser, Craig Anderson, aged 24, of Edwin Road, Dartford, was sentenced to four years and eight months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud on April 20 last year.

The group uploaded UK produced urban music albums and tracks for sale on Apple iTunes and Amazon.com.

Anderson, then acquired thousands of stolen US and UK credit cards which were given to a number of individuals who in turn used the cards to make more than 500,000 online purchases of the music.

This generated £500,000 in royalty payments with an estimated loss to the victims, Apple and Amazon in the region of £1m.

The level of sales generated by the network was equivalent to that of a major recording artist.

Apple identified the fraud in 2009 following an investigation with the security team of one of the distribution companies.

Anderson's former girlfriend, Siobhan Clarke, of Edwin Road, Dartford, pleaded guilty on March 5 to money laundering.

The 24-year-old was handed an eight month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work.

Detective Constable Simon Mills, from the Met's Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), said: "The nature of online commerce presents opportunities for sophisticated and resourceful cyber criminals, operating across national boundaries and jurisdictions.

"But, when law-enforcement agencies, prosecutors and victims pull together, international barriers can be overcome and suspects can be identified, prosecuted and punished.

"We hope the successful outcome of this and other PCeU investigations will serve as a deterrent to those contemplating these conspiracies, will put fear into the minds of those engaged in them and will serve to reduce the harm caused by cyber crime."