iTunes thief used stolen credit cards to download his own songs in £500k royalties con

A musician from Wolverhampton used stolen credit cards to buy his own songs on online music giants iTunes and Amazon as part of a £500,000 royalties con. Lamar Johnson, aged 19, posted music on the two sites and then used the stolen details to buy them thousands of times over. The music stores pay artists when their songs are downloaded. Helen Malcolm QC, prosecuting, said Johnson used “compromised credit card details” in order to get paid royalties.

Johnson, of Stow Heath Lane, Stow Heath, is the youngest member of a group, mainly from Wolverhampton, accused of making nearly £500,000 through the fraudulent downloads. The group, which is believed to have links to the urban music scene, allegedly downloaded the songs 6,000 times between January 2008 and June 2009. Around 20 songs are thought to have been created.



A joint investigation by Scotland Yard’s e-crime unit and the FBI led to a series of raids in June last year in Wolverhampton, Birmingham, London and Kent. Johnson is currently serving a five-year prison term for grievous bodily harm and admitted being responsible for about 2,000 of the downloads.

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud while no pleas were entered for the remaining nine defendants at London’s Southwark Crown Court yesterday. Judge Deborah Taylor adjourned sentencing of Johnson and ordered him to be remanded in custody. The nine remaining defendants will appear before the court on January 25.