Three 'Fagins' held for computer thefts
December 23 2002
Police have broken up a thriving trade in stolen computers, run by three
Fagin figures who used street kids to rob schools. Philip Cornford reports.
Police have arrested three "Fagins" - computer shop owners who recruited a
gang of street kids to steal computers from hundreds of schools.
One of the Fagins supplied the kids with a van so they could rob schools in
Sydney and as far afield as the Blue Mountains, paying them $1000 for each
stolen laptop and $500 for a hard drive.
"They were unscrupulous adults - just like Fagin in Oliver - who used up
these vulnerable kids and spat them out," said Detective Senior Constable
Audrey Dickinson. "They were a very active gang, hitting hundreds of schools."
In the biggest operation against school computer thefts - which cost $30
million last year - Strike Force Warrendale laid 139 charges against 15
offenders, 11 of them juveniles or young adults, for stealing computers
worth $615,000.
Superintendent John Trott, Wollongong area commander, said police were
targeting another 20 people believed to be associated with the thefts.
"The problem is ... due to the portability and ease of resale of
computers," he said.
The three Fagins - who owned two computer shops, one of which is still
operating - are charged with 75 counts of receiving stolen property.
Police recovered stolen computers and hard drives worth $90,000.
A juvenile who worked from a motel has also been charged with receiving
stolen computers.
Senior Constable Dickinson, officer in charge of Warrendale, said the
computer shop owners had no difficulty recruiting the gang of young
thieves, most of whom came from ruptured families.
"These kids had nothing to lose," she said. "The schools were soft targets;
it was easy money. A couple of them would share several thousand dollars on
a good night's work. There were plenty of willing recruits."
The thieves robbed so many schools they created a glut on the market, so
the computer shop receivers halved the prices they paid the gang, to $500
for a laptop and $250 for a hard drive.
Two men who ran one of the shops reassembled the hard drives in new
computer casings.
The other computer shop receiver sent some of the stolen computers to a
shop run by a criminal associate in Sydney.
Senior Constable Dickinson said the thieves tested school defences by
breaking a window and then timing how long it took security guards to respond.
In some areas the average response time was 15 minutes, in others 20 minutes.
"They knew how much time they had up their sleeves to get in, get the
computers and get out," Senior Constable Dickinson said.
"There wasn't any finesse. They ripped or cut out the hard drives, not
caring what damage they did."
She said the thieves at first targeted schools around their homes, but then
expanded their field of operations. The gang hit schools in inner Sydney
suburbs, as well as Camden, Campbelltown, Sutherland, Penrith, the Blue
Mountains, and the Illawarra region.
They frequently revisited the same schools, cleaning out what they had
earlier left behind. One school in southern Sydney was robbed six times in
a few months.
"At first we thought we were dealing with a few thefts. We were surprised
when we started to find out how active they were. It was an enormous job,
just compiling the intelligence on where they had struck."
Senior Constable Dickinson said the gang did not rely on getting specific
information about a particular school.
"It wasn't necessary. They knew schools had the newest and best computers,
they knew they were easy to get into," she said.
Senior Constable Dickinson said the thieves spent the money paid they by
the Fagins on amphetamines, alcohol and poker machines. "They're a sad lot
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