Barclays Bank computer heist: Eight arrested over £1.3m haul

(AFP)

Eight men have been arrested in connection with a £1.3 million theft carried out by a gang who took over a bank branch computer system.

Jewellery, drugs, cash, thousands of credit cards and personal data have been seized following raids at addresses in Westminster, Newham, Camden, Brent and Essex.

Detectives described one of the addresses in central London as the fraudsters' control centre.

The men, who are aged between 24 and 47, have been arrested in connection with an allegation of conspiracy to steal from Barclays Bank, and conspiracy to defraud UK banks. They are in custody in London police stations.

A search of the Barclays Bank branch in Swiss Cottage, north London, where £1.3 million was stolen in April, unearthed a “keyboard video mouse” (KVM) switch attached to a 3G router connected to one of the computers. A KVM switch would allow the fraudsters to transmit desktop content.

It is alleged one of the men posed as an engineer by saying he was there to fix computers to place the device.

Additional reporting by PA