Credit Card Con

A man from Ashford has been jailed for two years and four months, for using 32 different identities to apply for 200 credit cards and 50 bank accounts.

Paul Thomas Reppion of Sir John Fogge Avenue admitted running most of the cards and accounts deliberately into debt and then using the money to fund a comfortable lifestyle for almost a decade.

Police say the 49 year old also used the money to help buy a number of properties which he then rented out, providing him with an income estimated to be well over £400,000.
 
Canterbury Crown Court heard how police launched an investigation after being contacted by Ashford Borough Council who became suspicious when they received a number of applications for people to be registered at various addresses, some of which were believed to be uninhabitable.

When police searched Reppion's home address in November 2009 they found photo id driving licences, bills and other documents in a variety of names that turned out to be linked to false names being used for credit purposes.  

Officers also seized two computer discs, which contained more than a thousand financial documents, including the personal details and supporting information for 35 different identities.

Investigations revealed Reppion had changed his name by deed poll in April 2004 to Patrick Matthews, eight months later he had used it again to change his name to Barry Hunt.  Two years later he changed his name from Barry Hunt to Paul Matthews.

Detective Constable Stuart Champion said: "This investigation has identified a fraud carried out by Reppion over a number of years that at its heart has abused the electoral registration system in a methodical and calculated way, designed to deceive various banks in order to satisfy his greed."