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Couple stole £250,000 from gym-goers’ lockers and flaunted lavish lifestyles on social media
15 January 2024, 13:54
A couple have been sentenced after stealing a quarter of a million pounds from gym-goers to fund a lavish lifestyle of holidays and designer gear.
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Ashley Singh, 39 and Sophie Bruyea, 20, stole from lockers and spent the cash on luxury holidays after a year-long theft spree.
They stole bank cards from gym lockers of 18 unsuspecting people while the victims worked out in gyms.
Singh and Bruyea were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between January 2022 and January 2023.
Singh was jailed for three years and Bruyea handed a 20-month sentence suspended for two years.
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After rifling through victims’ lockers for credit cards - the couple would max out the cards on expensive goods and clothes - before selling them on to fund their luxury lifestyles.
Police tracked the couple’s phones, cars and followed them on CCTV before arresting them at Gatwick airport last January when the couple returned from Paris with €2,000 of designer goods.
Sentencing them, the judge branded the crimes a “wicked conspiracy.”
DC Luis Da Silva, from the Met’s economic crime team that investigated this case, said: “We know Londoners are worried about theft. It’s a horrible crime, and it causes a lot of stress, pain, and financial loss. That’s why we take this crime seriously and a whole team of us were committed to catching Singh and Bruyea.
“You couldn’t fail to be moved by the devastating impact their callous behaviour had on people, and we hope that by catching them this offers victims a little bit of solace. I would urge anyone who has had something stolen to get in touch, because we do want to drive down this crime and go after those who target the public.
“We will now look to forfeit the proceeds of their crimes to try and help compensate those who went through this.”