An international bank card fraudster has received a 17-month suspended sentence after he was convicted of having equipment for use in stealing people’s card details from cash machines.

Jeff Emmanuel, 40, of St Winefride’s Avenue, Manor Park was stopped in St Lucia after arriving on a flight from Gatwick Airport. St Lucian customs officers found an ATM skimmer, a device that fits over the card entry slot of a cash machine and steals customer card information, in his luggage. They also found a laptop containing card skimming software.

The devices were passed to officers in the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit.

Emmanuel was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the UK banking industry as he was about to board another flight to St Lucia from Gatwick Airport.

A search of his home revealed a package containing approximately 100 pre-pay gift cards. These cards, which have a magnetic strip on the back, are commonly used by fraudsters to create counterfeit bank cards using stolen data.

Officers also found a piece of paper with timings and suspected PINs - thought to be the output from an ATM camera bar where skimming had taken place.

Emmanuel was given a 17-month suspended sentence at the Old Bailey on September 22. He was also told to do 100 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £1,000.

DCI Perry Stokes, head of the DCPCU, said: “This fraudster was discovered with all the equipment needed to steal card details and cash from unknown individuals. Thanks to the hard work of our officers, working alongside police in St Lucia, we were able to prevent British bank customers from becoming fraud victims.”