TWO couples have been sentenced for their part in a series of frauds from which they pocketed nearly £150,000.

Adam White, 31, and his partner Carly Pepper, 26, both in Main Road, Icklesham, together with Jason Agoston, 31, and his partner Emma Lockwood, 26, both of Piltdown Close, Hastings, conned huge brands out of tens of thousands of pounds in a scheme stretching back more than five years.

The quartet defrauded Rother District Council, Sky, PayPal, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer in a four-pronged attack.

White and Pepper obtained more than £32,000 between September 2011 and September 2012 by buying 390 Sky multi room viewing cards and illegally selling them on via Facebook and eBay.

Meanwhile between September 2012 and April 2013 the four conned £109,371.77 out of PayPal  by making payments between accounts and claiming they had never gone through.

In November 2013, seven iMacs and seven iPads worth nearly £14,000 were ordered on M&S credit cards from John Lewis, delivered to Agoston’s address, and the transactions were disputed.

White also falsely claimed a discount on his Council Tax.

Detective Constable Hilary Bennison of the Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit said; "This is a very good result for Sussex Police. White is a career criminal who has a proven record of committing frauds to fund his lifestyle while claiming benefits. Officers within the Economic Crime Unit work to bring offenders such as these to justice, and if possible strip them of their assets under the proceeds of crime legislation.

"I would like to thank our partner agencies, Rother District Council and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) who worked closely with us on this investigation. Together we were able to reach this successful conclusion."

"Our enquiries continue, and expert police financial investigators are preparing evidence for a court confiscation hearing on 15 April next year, under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) to see if further compensation can be agreed for Sky, for the customers who purchased Sky viewing cards and for PayPal." 

White was sentenced to a total of five and a half years, including six months for breach of a previous suspended sentence, and for fraud by false representation against Rother District Council, and conspiracy to defraud PayPal, Sky , John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.

Pepper was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for money laundering in relation to funds obtained by White from Sky, and conspiracy to defraud PayPal.

Agoston was sentenced to a total of 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to defraud PayPal, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.

He was also ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work and to attend 10 sessions at an Addiction workshop.

Lockwood was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months for conspiracy to defraud PayPal. She was also ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.