Ticket fraud case solved with the support of Eurojust

​The Hague, 6 June 2019

An organised crime group involved in railway card fraud was taken down today through a joint action by the British and Romanian authorities, coordinated by Eurojust. Simultaneous raids were carried out in London and Bacau and 18 suspects were arrested. Several house searches were also performed and a number of items were seized. Eurojust supported the national criminal investigations by setting up a joint investigation team (JIT) between the United Kingdom and Romania, which was provided with substantial funding. Europol assisted the operation by deploying a mobile officer to Romania during the action day.

Twelve months ago, an investigation into an organised crime group dealing with counterfeit travel cards on the British railways network was initiated by the British Transport Police, in close cooperation with the Romanian Directorate for Investigation and Organised Crime and the Romanian Police (Brigade for Combatting Organised Crime, Directorate for Criminal Investigations and Directorate for Special Operations). Vigilant members of the British railways staff detected the fake tickets and alerted the authorities, who launched this comprehensive investigation with the support of Romania, Eurojust and Europol. The OCG members are suspected of conspiracy to commit fraud, participation in a criminal organisation and cybercrime. Further investigations into the OCG are ongoing.