IT technician sent £25k charity cash to Nigeria

AN IT technician caught up in an internet honeytrap scam transferred £25,000 collected from charity donations to fraudsters in Nigeria, a court has heard.

Brian MacKay, 40, had befriended a Nigerian lady he met in a chatroom and she persuaded him to move the money which had been paid via a website.

Fiscal depute Ruth Ross-Davie told Edinburgh Sheriff Court the money had been given by individuals on the understanding it was for charity.

She said: "It was the police investigation of the payments which led to MacKay and when he was apprehended by police officers he acknowledged he understood the process was a dishonest one and he had been involved in a transfer of money from innocent parties to the fraudulent parties in Nigeria.

"His response to charge was: 'I was very stupid, I have stopped it now and apologised, I know it was wrong.'"

MacKay, of Easter Road, admitted receiving 25,635 through the Western Union Money Transfer System to Cash Converters, at the city's Leith Walk, and transferring the criminal property to third parties in Nigeria, whose identities are unknown.

Sheriff Deidre MacNeill QC deferred sentence on MacKay for background reports.