Ashley Mitchell of Paignton, Devon, UK, infiltrated the Zynga Corporation which runs the popular Facebook app Zynga Poker and stole 400 billion chips. Mitchell then passed them on to fake Facebook accounts he had created. He would then sell the chips at a discount over the internet.
The 29-year old who worked as an IT expert was able to make a profit, before he was caught of £50,000, although the full value of the chips stolen were £7.4 million. The prosecution charged in court that if he had gone undetected, he could have made £184,000 at the discounted rates he was selling them.
Mitchell's defense barrister claimed that he was suffering from a gambling addiction at the time of the crimes which clouded his judgment. The barrister admitted one charge of causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorized access to a program or data held in a computer with intent to commit an offense. Mitchell also faces four counts of of converting criminal property under the proceeds of Crime Act.
Judge Phillip Wassall told Mitchell "It is inevitable you are going to prison. The question is how long for."