Victory for The Mail on Sunday as computer boss behind millions of spam texts is charged with breaking data protection laws

• Jayessh Shah, 42, told an undercover reporter his firm had sent PPI texts
  
• Claimed he was immune from prosecution as firm wasn't based in the UK
  
• Information Commissioner's Office confirms it has charged Shah
  

By ABUL TAHER

Published: 17:34 EST, 18 January 2014 | Updated: 17:34 EST, 18 January 2014

Texts: Jayessh Shah, 42, is due to appear before a court charged with breaching the Data Protection Act

A computer boss exposed by The Mail on Sunday for allegedly bombarding Britons with half a million spam text messages every day has been charged under the Data Protection Act.

Jayessh Shah boasted to an undercover reporter that his IT firm had sent huge numbers of messages telling people they were entitled to free refunds on the payment protection insurance policies they had taken out.

Anyone who responded to the texts, including those who indicated that they did not want to receive any more, was regarded as a ‘lead’ by Shah, and their mobile number was sold to a claims management company for £7.50.

Shah told our reporter he had made millions of pounds out of his business, and claimed he was immune from prosecution as it operated from outside the UK.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has now told The Mail on Sunday it has charged Shah with lying to them about what he did with people’s personal data – an offence under the Data Protection Act.

All companies that operate in Britain and handle details such as personal names, addresses and phone numbers are required to tell the ICO what they do with the information.

Shah registered his IT company, called Vintels, with the ICO, but allegedly failed to declare it sold personal data to other companies.

Such an offence carries a maximum penalty at a magistrates’ court of a £5,000 fine.

Shah, 42, is due to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court in North London on Tuesday.

The ICO began investigating Shah after our story about him in December 2012. A spokesman said: ‘We would like to thank The Mail on Sunday for providing us with information that helped us further our investigation.’

Story: The headline on an undercover investigation on Shah by The Mail on Sunday in December 2012

This newspaper began investigating Vintels after receiving tipoffs that it was one of the biggest senders of unsolicited PPI-related texts in the UK. At the time, there was an epidemic of such messages, with a study by the Citizens Advice Bureau finding that nine out of ten Britons had received one.

Sending unsolicited marketing text messages is illegal and offenders can be fined up to £500,000 by the ICO.

During our investigation, an undercover reporter met Shah for a ‘business meeting’ near Euston railway station. He claimed he had been sending spam PPI texts to British mobiles for four years, potentially bombarding the country with hundreds of millions of messages.

Shah, who divides his time between India and a house in Barnet, North London, could not be contacted for comment.

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