Three men charged with conspiracy to defraud see their cases sent to Supreme Court

A court case in which three men have been charged with conspiracy to defraud has been sent to be heard at the Supreme Court due to the seriousness of the allegations.

Thomas John Cornelio, John Christopher Perez and Caine Derek Sanchez are charged with conspiracy to defraud Bland Limited.

It is alleged that the defendants dishonestly undermined the ability of Bland Limited to perform its contractual agreement with the Government of Gibraltar in connection with the National Security Central Intelligence System maintenance agreement in order to benefit for themselves and/or 36 North Limited, a private company.

The charges are the result of a long investigation following a criminal complaint by Bland Limited and the Government of Gibraltar, following alleged incidents in 2018 and 2019. The investigation was carried out by the Royal Gibraltar Police with help from the UK's National Cyber Crime Unit at the National Crime Agency.

In addition to the conspiracy to defraud charges all three face, Thomas Cornelio is charged with 14 computer misuse related offences. These include allegedly altering the National Security Central Intelligence System to both stop transmitting vehicle information and also on other occasions to transmit the date to an unauthorised location - risking or damaging the security of Gibraltar.

Caine Sanchez has also been charged with one count of Misconduct in Public Office and one count of Aiding and Abetting Unauthorised Access to Computer Material, which reportedly allowed Mr Cornelio to alter the security system.

All three defendants have been granted bail, with the case adjourned until October 21st.

Katy Docker reports.