Bent cop told to repay £360,000 scam profits
ACORRUPT cop who sold personal data about traffic accidents has been ordered to pay back more than £300,000.
Nigel Mungur, a former immediate response officer with Lancashire Constabulary, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office, conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, money laundering, and unauthorised access to a computer in November 2015.
The 40-year-old was originally sentenced to five years’ jail at Chester Crown Court, but the sentence was reduced to four years after his lawyers complained that the term was “far too tough”.
His crimes came to light in 2014, after an investigation found that Mungur, of Haigh Road, Waterloo, had accessed more than 20,000 accident logs over seven years.
He then sold the information to John Helton, 37, who worked for Liverpool-based law firm GT Law.
The firm sold the data would then use it to coldcall people and offer to get them compensation.
Lancashire police launched their investigation after receiving numerous complaints from people saying they had been contacted by the law firm to discuss making a compensation claim, although they had not disclosed their personal details to anyone outside the police.
On Tuesday, May 8, a proceeds of crime hearing at Chester Crown Court heard that Mungur had made £367,772.50 from the scam.
The court ruled that a confiscation order will remain in place until the full amount has been repaid, although Mungur’s lawyer argued that he did not have the means to repay the money.
John Helton had also previously been given a £115,000 confiscation order.
Mungur was once a well-respected officer who stood up for a community on a council estate blighted by yobs.
In January 2007, PC Mungur vowed to clean up a street corner in the Digmoor area of Skelmersdale, which had become overrun by local youths.
He also delivered Christmas presents to community centres in the area.
One community leader remembered him as someone who “took his job very seriously” and was shocked to hear he had been jailed.
Det Supt Pete Simm, head of Lancashire Constabulary’s professional standards department, said: “No-one working within Lancashire Constabulary will be allowed to profit from corruption.
“Police officers and staff are hugely privileged in terms of the data they have access to and members of the public should be able to trust the integrity of that data.
“Nigel Mungur clearly and blatantly breached the trust placed in him as a serving police officer.
“Lancashire Constabulary will continue to act where we find malpractice and wrongdoing within the organisation and take swift action to root it out, to ensure the public can have confidence and trust in us.”
Helton was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, after admitting conspiring with Mungur to convert criminal property (money laundering) and committing unauthorised access to a computer.
Mungur’s wife, Nicola, who is also a former Lancashire police officer, was given a conditional discharge after admitting a data protection offence.
The couple were dismissed from the force in March 2016 for gross misconduct. Ben Fletcher, director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, which assisted the investigation, said: “This result is another victory in this shocking case.
“Mungur used his position as a trusted member of the police to capitalise on other’s misfortune, by selling their information illegally to companies that encouraged fraudulent insurance claims.
“It is only right that money he used to fund his extravagant lifestyle is recuperated back (sic), hitting him exactly where it hurts.
“Our message is clear: punishment doesn’t stop at a prison sentence, you will pay for your crimes in every possible way.”