Speaking exclusively to Mobile News Hooper said she was furious that her integrity as a witness of truth was questioned.

Hooper and her colleague Diana Ayton were arrested on February 2 last year and were kept in a police station for about 10 hours.

They were questioned on general operation issues and salary and dividend details and asked whether they had any knowledge of missing trader fraud. Their houses were searched but they were later told no charges would be brought against them and their involvement was over.

But two weeks ago Mr Justice Crane cited them as the main reason a carousel fraud case could not continue (Mobile News July 1). This was because Customs had not informed the court that Hooper Ayton and Hawk had been suspected of being involved in missing trader fraud.

Until this court case wed heard nothing more about it said Hooper. Im furious. Having ones integrity and honesty put in doubt is never nice. Luckily I have a very good reputation in this business and people seem to trust me. However this sort of thing could ultimately have a negative effect.

Hawk managing director Paul Harding said he was stunned when it emerged that such damaging statements were being made about Hawk in open court.

As the case progressed we heard about it but we never saw anything. We saw no transcripts or anything like that throughout the whole event he said.

It was only when the judgement was made that we began to see what was being said about Hawk in open court.

He acknowledged that Hawk was aware that fraud goes on in the mobile phone business.

Freight forwarders are involved because we are at the sharp end of the movement of the goods throughout. But we make a lot of effort to help Customs combat fraud. Customs officials come into us at least once a week with access to our records.

Weve always helped Customs and only ever questioned it when we have felt it has done something beyond its powers said Harding.

Full interview page 16

But the defendants were discharged after the judge found procedural errors in Customs handling of the case chiefly that it did not alert the defence team that two star prosecution witnesses Nicola Hooper and Diana Ayton had themselves been arrested.

The evidence in the Hawk witnesses statements did not in itself suggest that the defendants were acting fraudulently said the judge. But they were eventually given away because they could not be regarded as witnesses of truth.

He added: Both Hawk and the exporters played a part in suspect MTIC (missing trader fraud) trade outside the confines of Operaton Venison.

Hawk MD Paul Harding denies absolutely that Hawk has ever been involved in any wrongdoing.

It is true I am no longer at Vodafone he said. But I am unable to comment on the circumstances of my departure. However I am keen to get back into the industry at the earliest opportunity.

A dealer principal said he had heard that Graham had objected to an internal reshuffle and that his position in the sales organisation had became untenable.

One of Grahams dealer associates said: Its very strange. One day he was there the next he wasnt. No one at Vodafone has officially told us he has left what is going on or who his replacement is. Its a mystery. Ive asked a few people at Vodafone what has happened but no one seems prepared to talk about it.

Another dealer theorised: If you ask me it seems Iains face no longer fitted the newVodafone culture. Hes old school and is a personality rather than a corporate droid.

Graham joined Vodafone in April 1985 but left after eight years to establish One 2 Ones dealer network and formulate its trade channel strategy. He left One 2 One after four years to return to Vodafone.

A source close to Orange said: Orange is looking at either appointing van Gaver to the role or else not replacing Stuart Henry at all which would be daft.

Orange needs someone to get to grips with the indirect channel. It has lost day-to-day channel feedback. It is losing opportunities because its not aware of them. Its slipped behind O2 into third place and it will slip to number four next year.

Henry who will leave the company to take up the post of MD at events company Red Letter Days before the end of the year said that no decision had yet been made about his replacement.

Said Henry: I cant guarantee how Orange will handle the replacement or if it will sit from now on in a different part of the business. Nothing has been decided. But the independent channel will have to report into somewhere.

Van Gaver is a very capable and pragmatic individual. He is very good at his job and I would have no trouble recommending him. He is a guy I would support in the role tremendously.

Henry said that there were a number of internal candidates for the role but suggested that Orange may have trouble finding anyone willing to take it on.

Independent sales is perceived to be something of a poisoned chalice. When Orange does something that hacks off independent dealers they react much much worse than if O2 had done it. Its been the same for four years now.

He added: Nobody forced me out. I decided to leave Orange because I need a change and a fresh challenge.

Van Gaver has been at Orange UK and Orange France for more than 10 years. Within Gavers remit is responsibility for Oranges direct online sales.

Weve been dealing with Vodafone as a direct dealer for some time now but actually becoming one of its official distributors is fantastic for us said Robinson.

During the trial we introduced a lot of new dealers to Vodafone he said. This was incremental business as these dealers had not been previously offering Vodafone. As a result we have been appointed a full distributor as of Monday to go out and sell Vodafone. The deal makes us an even bigger force against rival distributors. We are very strong and have even more plans for expansion in the pipeline.

Vodafone is helping MoCo get started by letting the company exclusively sell the Nokia 6680 on an 18-month contract with 500 anytime minutes 100 texts and 50 video minutes included in the bundle for 40 a month. Half-price line rental applies for the first six months.

That is a very competitive offering and should win us and Vodafone lots of new business said Robinson.

Robinson is now recruiting for extra staff to handle the increased business the contract will bring.

Im looking for two or three account managers around the country as well as additional warehouse and telesales staff he said.

The deal has also sparked internal promotion. MoCo marketing manager Harvey Alexander has been made communications and operations director responsible for handling all communications to dealers and customers.

MoCo had traditionally been an exclusive O2 distributor from its days as a BT reseller. It added T-Mobile last year and Orange in May.

Meanwhile in a separate move Vodafone has extended its 3G Data Card offering by launching a new pre-pay version.

The Vodafone Mobile Connect Prepay 3G data card is priced at 199 and is available from retailers including PC World Maplin Comet Argos and Amazon.

It is also available through channel partners Ingram Micro and Computer 2000. Resellers interested in selling the card should contact them.

The card comes with a free 10MB of data transfer. Further top-ups can be purchased from the handset in Vodafone UK retail stores and online.

Usage will be charged at 3.07 per megabyte in the UK and 9.085 internationally.

To coincide with the launch Vodafone has introduced a new Unlimited price plan at 45 per month for existing contract 3G data card customers. New subscribers to the tariff will get the data card free. Downloads are subject to a fair use policy.

This tariff replaces the 450 and 1000 MB bundles. Existing customers will automatically be moved to the new price plan saving 1000MB customers 30 per month and providing 450MB customers greater usage at no extra cost.

Mobile News has assembled a team of the UKs foremost lawyers and consultants in revenue law and practice as key speakers at the conference.

They are ex-Customs and Excise investigator-turned solicitor Hassan Khan ex-Customs senior investigation officer Don Mavin barrister Anthony Barnfather former Customs solicitor Andrew Young and solicitor Alias Dass. Dass is known for having led the legal battle against Customs & Excise that led to joint and several liability being referred to the European Court of Justice.

As well as the key speakers there will also be panel discussions featuring traders who have been affected by the implications of the Finance Bill.

The timing of this conference could not be better said Don Mavin. A substantial number of businesses are beginning to trade in the grey market both old and new while Customs is doing its best to enforce the limited sanctions it has and generally to disrupt what it considers to be a dubious market.

This conference will enable delegates to hear the views of a range of professional advisers and I am looking forward to adding my own experiences in dealing with Customs to the topics on offer.

Mobile News editor Ian White added:

Since the Finance Bill traders have had deal with a fierce VAT regime. We felt Mobile News should help the channel and we are thrilled to have attracted such a fantastic calibre of speakers.

See the brochure attached to this issue call 0207 324 3500 or e-mail conference@mobilenewscwp.co.uk.

One Orange dealer said:

The situation is driving me crazy. Oranges commission used to be divided into low medium and high depending on the tariff. The loyalty system adds different factors into the equation which Oranges accountancy systems cant seem to manage. They say they are sorting it out but its causing me headache. Ive put on a lot of connections. On all of them I have been paid less than I should.

Mobile News columnist and dealer Jez Harris added: Oranges accountancy systems are all over the place. I upgraded a Talk 30 customer to Your Plan 120 on an 18-month contract and only got commission for a 12-month Talk 30 price plan.

A source at Orange distributor Avenir Telecom confirmed there had been a number of complaints.

There are problems – they have been going on for quite a while and it has been a source of concern to dealers. But Orange assures us that it is taking steps to sort this out.

An Orange spokesman said:

There were a few initial issues with paying loyalty commissions but things have now been rectified. Dealers will be reimbursed for any missing money. Any dealers who have any outstanding problems and have been paid incorrectly should contact their account manager.

The Ora management has a reputation for being controlling and it wouldnt have suited Bob said an industry source. Also the fact that Ora has lost its O2 and Orange accounts to Dextra would have made it difficult to take the company forward. I dont see it recovering. There are redundancies on the cards.

Johnson refused to be drawn on the reasons for his departure.

It was amicable but it was better to part from the company for personal reasons he said.

Johnson added: Ora has attempted to address the activities of some of the established dealer accessories players without much headway so far. This is a highly price-sensitive and resource-intense arena and Ora will need to determine its own path if it is to be successful.

We did try to launch into new areas including SatNav and Bluetooth and experienced some early successes but the big boys continually drive down margins and progress was difficult. With my experience of emerging technologies such as VoIP I thought it better to concentrate my efforts elsewhere.

A spokesperson for Ora said: Bob left for personal reasons. The strategy he put in place will still be implemented. We are growing our dealer sales team and looking to recruit.

Johnson joined Ora in March. Business director Mark Slater will take on his role for now.

The Crewe-based accessories company part of the Caudwell Group will supply megapixel camera handsets from Nokia Sony Ericsson Motorola and Samsung on Vodafone Orange O2 T-Mobile and 3.

Mark Ormerod group managing director for Dextra and Phones 4U said:

Weve worked closely with the team at Jessops to deliver a solution that best suits its needs from advising on the latest in megapixel technology through to execution in-store.

It is all aimed at maximising sales while at the same time maintaining Jessops high standard of customer experience.

Dextra will initially distribute to 40 Jessops stores rising to all 270 UK stores later in the year. It is the first time Jessops will have offered contract handsets.

Jessops camera phone product group manager Ravi Chambers commented:

With the increasing convergence between digital cameras and camera phones and improvements in camera phone technology delivering higher quality pictures this is an ideal time for Jessops to enter the pay monthly market.

Camera phones are set to represent an ever increasing area in the digital imaging marketplace.`

The deal follows Dextras successful scoop of an accessories contract with Orange parent Fance Telecom worth more than 30 million.

Mokogwu was arrested on July 5 after O2 management discovered discrepancies during stock-taking.

She has been bailed until Monday August 30 for probation reports and was warned that she could face a custodial sentence.