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Mobile phone handler jailed for three years

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A man who police believe was responsible for the disposal of 200 stolen mobile phones has been jailed for three years. Police believe that Omar Chenaa, of Linkway Gardens, in Leicester's West End, took the phones to Algeria and sold them. He flew to the country once a month. In a two year period, more than £200,000 went in and out of the 37-year-old's bank account, even though he was claiming benefits at the time. Officers said most of the phones had been stolen in bars or clubs in Leicester city centre. Others came from London, Yorkshire, Coventry and Bedfordshire. One was first registered in Australia and another in France, but it is not clear where they were stolen. Chenaa was convicted of two counts of handling stolen goods, one of possessing criminal property, one of converting/ concealing criminal property, and one of removing criminal property from the UK. He was sentenced on June 14. Police became suspicious about Chenaa when they stopped his car for minor traffic offences in November 2011. They carried out a search, and discovered he had on him £3,000 cash and six mobile phones which he could not account for. This led officers to search his home, where they discovered a further 20 phones, and sim cards and documents relating to many others. Detective Constable Mark Cronshaw, from Leicestershire Police's economic crime unit, led the investigation. He said: "This investigation started with some excellent work by the patrolling officers. They stopped Chenaa for one reason, but found something else suspicious and carried on investigating until we discovered he was involved in a large criminal enterprise. "Mobile phone thefts are a significant problem. "We have managed to return 11 phones to their owners, or insurance companies. "Unfortunately a number of the phones we recovered from Chenaa were never reported missing or stolen." Police froze Chenaa's bank account during the investigation, and will now begin work towards getting the money it contained forfeited in order to compensate his victims. Det Con Cronshaw said the cased highlighted the importance of getting phone details recorded on a property database. "It helped us prove that the phones we seized were stolen, and eventually return them to their owners," he said. "It also helps us greatly if owners can activate tracking software, which comes free with many devices." Visit: www.immobilise.com

Mobile phone handler jailed for three years


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