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Quadsys: Fraud charges are still pending

'Charges against us were dropped'. Yep, but not the new one

Quadsys has tried to allay concerns in the channel about a pending fraud case involving the owner and MD by circulating police documents showing that criminal charges were dropped.

The reseller’s owner, Paul Streeter, MD Paul Cox and director Alistair Barnard are correct to say that four counts levelled against them were dropped by the police. However, these charges were then replaced with an umbrella charge of fraud.

The trio were originally accused in March of unauthorised access to a computer to facilitate the commission of an offence; of conspiring to steal from another; of conspiring to enter into/ be concerned in the acquisition/ retention/ use of control of criminal property; and unauthorised computer access with intent to commit other offences.

Three documents from Banbury Police Station, seen by the The Channel, state that the three were released without charge on 13 August 2015.

“There is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction currently, but the case will be kept under review since further evidence may become available in the future, as a result of which a decision to charge made be made,” the documents state.

But on 14 August, El Chan revealed that Cox, Streeter and Barnard were charged by Thamas Valley Police with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, and Cox was also charged with blackmail.

It is claimed the men hacked into a rival reseller’s database to steal customer information and pricing data.

Since the more recent charges emerged, some suppliers have expressed concern about continuing to trade with Quadsys, and its credit-worthiness has been downgraded – or so our sources have claimed – due to the pending court case.

The three, along with Quadsys account manager Steve Davies, appeared at Banbury Magistrates Court last week and the case was moved up to Oxford Crown Court to be heard on 28 September.

A fourth employee, in-house security solutions architect Jon Townsend, did not turn up to the Banbury Magistrates court and was due to appear on 14 September.

A spokesman at Thames Valley Police told us the documents from Banbury Police were “legitimate”. As part of the criminal justice procedure, the charges against the defendants were consolidated under the allegation of fraud.

We asked Quadsys for comment on the case but were told the individuals concerned were not available. ®

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