Former Virgin O2 employee convicted of unlawfully sharing personal data
29/10/2025 | FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced the successful prosecution of Luke Coleman, a former Virgin Media O2 employee, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining and disclosing personal data in breach of the Data Protection Act 2018. Coleman sold confidential customer data to a family friend, Nicholas Harper, for use in a boiler room fraud.
Harper pleaded guilty to assisting the data protection offence, but was acquitted of conspiracy to defraud. However, two other individuals, Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga, were sentenced to a combined twelve years' imprisonment for defrauding at least 65 investors out of £1,541,799. Coleman was fined £384 and ordered to pay an additional £538 in a surcharge and prosecution costs.
Commenting on the case in a LinkedIn post, Jon Baines wrote that while it's unusual for the FCA to launch legal proceedings for data protection violations, it may do so with the Director of Public Prosecutions' approval.
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