A former Carphone Warehouse trader was one of 12 people charged and remanded in custody last week as part of a suspected £250 million missing trader VAT fraud.

Amir Naghib (aka Amir Naghibossadat) 36 was a trader within Carphones wholesale division from 2003 when suspects were first identified and arrested until August 2004. He was arrested in police raids across England and Wales on February 5.

A Carphone spokesperson said: We can confirm that the company is not implicated in any charges.

Five of the 12 suspects including Naghib were remanded in custody with the trial ongoing as Mobile News went to press. They could face up to two years in custody before the cases go to trial said lawyers acting for the defendants.

Anthony Barnfather of Pannone a leading lawyer in the field and involved in this case said: With these defendants on bail for so long and previously attending when requested this represents a remarkable change of stance in this case. A judge must be persuaded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant will fail to surrender for trial before refusing bail.

Obviously a judgement to remand in custody in these circumstances is particularly onerous given that in my experience such a complicated case wont reach trial until mid-2008. I would expect defence lawyers to appeal to a county court judge.

At the time of going to press 11 others had been charged.

They included: Curtis Laurent 48 from Cardiff; Marcus Hughes 36 from Uttoxeter; Keith Bennett 46 from Beaconsfield; Hashib Apabhai 47 from Bedworth; Adam Amani (changed by deed poll from Mohammed Novsarka) 45 from Warwickshire; Peter Ebbrell 55 from Coventry; Keith Ponder 56 from Beaconsfield; Sampson Goldstone 31 from Cheshire; Jo-Anne Halliday 57 from Stoke; Quentin Reynolds from London; and Ebrahim Sodha from Nuneaton.

Apabhai Amani and Goldstone were also charged with money laundering offences. Reynolds was also charged with cheating the revenue. Sodha was charged with cheating the revenue and money laundering.

All the accused appeared at Horseferry Road Magistrates Court on February 6 and 7.

The arrests and charges are part of a five-year investigation by Customs called Operation Euripus that saw 42 arrests as 350 officers raided 93 premises across the UK and Spain in July 2003 (see Mobile News issue 293).

Customs said the 2003 raids led to analysis of half a million documents and the hard drives of 391 computers.
European arrest warrants have also been issued in France and Spain against four individuals.

A second profit warning from Deutsche Telekom will see T-Mobile go hell for leather for contract and data connections in Q1 say sources to show as earnings by the year end.

The emphasis will then shift to prepay with commission for contract connections being slashed. Prepay connections have lower levels of subsidy and show as earnings far sooner.

One distributor told Mobile News: All the networks realise that selling direct means the indirect channel becomes less important. T-Mobile in particular seems to be turning itself upside down. I expect the announcement of a significant restructuring within the month.

Despite the rumours Mobile News understands that the jobs of head of contract connections Mark Duncan and head of dealers and distributors Glyn Horsfield among other senior channel roles are safe but that several roles at dealer account level are at risk as part of a T-Mobile internal cost-cutting exercise dubbed Save For Service.

But T-Mobile confirmed that it has entered into a 90-day consultation period with its national and local employee councils to make up to 140 staff redundant and outsource a further 194 field-based roles. It has notified The Department of Trade and Industry to that effect.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) criticised T-Mobile last week for its decision in the light of good annual results and for leaving staff in the dark.

CWU organiser Peter Morris said: It has caused great concern. T-Mobile has given us no explanation yet. We really need to reassure our members. Whats all the more confusing is that T-Mobile performed well in 2006.

T-Mobile said affected staff will receive generous redundancy packages. A T-Mobile spokesperson said: We are in consultation with the relevant local employee councils.

Gwent-based dealership Get Connected is set to open three new stores in the next fortnight. The move will take the number of outlets in its chain to 33.

Get Connected managing director Damian Cole has his sights set on a total of 50 stores by the end of 2007.

Cole has already purchased the premises of a new shop in Cardiff and has agreed the takeover of two other independent dealerships. They are Fonetalk in West Glamorgan and Mobile Phone Services in Craven Arms Shropshire.

Signalling his ambitions to develop a wider retail base Cole said that he would consider taking over dealerships located anywhere in the UK.

The takeover of these two stores as well as the new site in Cardiff will increase our footprint by 10 per cent he said. Wed like to take our portfolio of stores up to 50 stores by the end of the year. Were looking at going concerns and well talk to anyone.

Get Connected is the largest independent dealership in Wales.

Mainline has appointed former Hugh Symons sales manager Jo McLarty as regional sales manager.

McLarty spent seven years at Hugh Symons where she led Orange sales before becoming sales manager. She is to develop key dealer accounts and will manage Mainlines field-based dealer team for the North Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mainline managing director Andrew Boden said: Jos experience will help tremendously as we focus on supporting dealers.

McLarty added: Our single-network focus means we can concentrate on developing and supplying complementary services.

Data Select is to wind down its distance selling business.

Data Select managing director George McPherson said that distance sales were no longer commercially viable for either dealers or Data Select.

Data Select stopped working with distance sellers connecting 3 last week after stringent guidelines from 3 to dealers on handset returns.

We have already stopped connecting through distance sellers on 3 said McPherson. The changes it has made to its package dont suit distance selling as a business model. We cant see a way of working with distance sellers at all that make commercial sense for us or for them.

But McPherson denied that Data Select had pulled the plug on all consumer business with 3.

O2 has been named best retailer in our sister publication Fones year-long mystery shop competition.

Fone mystery shopped all UK mobile chains 30 times each over 43 weeks. Last weeks final visit to Maidenhead saw O2 narrowly beat Phones 4U into second place with Orange taking third.

O2 head of retail Paula Cave said: We spend a lot of time getting across the message that staff affect our retail performance.

Brightstar Europe will launch in the UK in March promising better service and lower costs to networks retailers and manufacturers.

US distributor Brightstar has teamed up with US IT distributor Tech Data to launch the European handset distribution business.

Brightstar Europe will distribute handsets and other wireless devices to network operators dealers agents and retailers. Tech Data and Brightstar will each have a 50 per cent stake.

Brightstar Europe will be headquartered in the UK with access to 10 logistics centres and 16 sales offices across Europe. It will be headed in Europe by former 20:20 Logistics managing director Rod Millar once his exit terms from 20:20 are resolved.

Tech Data CEO Robert Dutkowsky said: Brightstar Europe will serve as a critical supply chain partner enabling manufacturers and operators to reduce costs and improve delivery times.

Brightstar president and CEO Marcelo Claure said: The European mobile device market is highly fragmented. We believe Brightstar Europe will introduce next generation distribution to the market.

Last month Brightstar struck a global distribution deal with Motorola. Motorola executive vice-president Ron Garriques said: Motorola is working aggressively to build its distribution reach.

Oranges federation dealers have reacted angrily to Oranges relaunched discount matrix which it has now made available to Mainline and Midland dealers.

Orange pulled its discount matrix which offered its top partners reduced line rental and free airtime credits in October.

It re-launched the promotion at the start of February including one months free line-rental a year on two- and three-year contracts of 700 minutes and above.

But Oranges federation dealers the 16 direct dealers it migrated from its old Orange Business Specialist scheme early last year complained that the offer was devalued because Mainline and Midland could offer the promotion to their own specialist dealer clubs which have 19 and 25 members respectively.

One federation dealer said: Making it available to Midland and Mainline devalues the offer. We should get better exclusive support. Its very frustrating.

One source close to Orange said: It is no different. Its always been available to Midland and Mainline as well. But you can understand why the federation dealers are annoyed theyre part of a club and should receive special treatment. They dont want other dealers getting the same benefits.

Data Select has denied rumours that it is in talks about a sale to US distributor Brightpoint.

Eric White marketing and communications director at Data Select parent company Phones International said last week: If there are players out there window shopping then of course Data Select is going to appear on the radar.

Speculation has mounted that Phones International boss Peter Jones is readying the company for a sale after he bought back a 25 per cent stake in the business last month sold to Credit Suisse for tens of millions in February 2005.

Brightpoint is also rumoured to have approached Danish distributor Dangaard about a takeover or joint-venture. But Dangaard chief operating officer Micha©l K¸ehn also denied that Brightpoint had made any approach.

Brightpoint was unavailable for comment.

Go Mobile managing director Iain Humphrey said last week that he would close down newly acquired high street stores that do not perform.

Go Mobile acquired all 14 Activmobile stores from Fone Logistics for an undisclosed fee at the end of January. The purchase takes Go Mobiles retail footprint to 52 including one franchise store and consolidates it as the fourth largest indirect retail chain behind The Carphone Warehouse Phones 4U and JAG.

Five of the Activmobile stores are located in prime retail sites in high streets and shopping centres. Until now Humphrey has concentrated solely on secondary and tertiary towns to expand the Go Mobile chain.

Humphrey said: Five of the new sites are located in prime positions within city centres. All the stores have been around a long time and are in good locations. They fit in well with our retail estate in North Yorkshire. I am confident that the staff will get the results. However I will pull out if stores do not perform.

Humphrey added: We are ensuring that our retail footprint is right that it is an asset to the networks and not a competitor to them on the high street. The acquisition consolidates our position as a quality dealership chain.

T-Mobile head of dealers and distributors Glyn Horsfield said: Iains recipe for success has been to focus on these sites and to be a part of the community. It will be interesting to see what he does with the Activmobile stores that are located in shopping centres. He has to be careful to avoid the primary locations and going up against Carphone.

All Activmobile staff have been transferred to Go Mobile. The stores will remain branded as Activmobile in the short-term.

The sale sees Fone Logistics end its 10-year association with retail originally in the guise of an MPC franchise and latterly in a wholly owned estate of 14 outlets.

Fone Logistics said it would concentrate its efforts solely on developing its network relationships.

Fone Logistics CEO Ian Gillespie said: Fone Logistics is a distributor. Our primary focus is in supporting our dealers and working with them to develop sustainable long-term business.

Our retail business served a purpose initially in helping us understand the dynamics of the high street. But as the industry shifts within indirect to a SME and B2B focus we have shifted along with it. To succeed in independent retail you need to live and breathe it and that is what Go Mobile does.