A 27-year-old British Army soldier, Private Lewis Billam has been kicked out of the military after stealing a colleague’s bank card to buy FIFA points for his Xbox.
Private Lewis Billam bought 216 Euros worth of the virtual currency used in the popular football video game.
Bulford Military Court heard that the 27-year-old bought three lots of 71.99 Euros FIFA points packs on his colleague, Private Megan Martin’s card. The 71.99Euros packs give players 12,000 points which can be spent in the game. The points can buy ‘FIFA Ultimate Team packs’ which allow players to build a squad of footballers or ‘FIFA Ultimate Team Draft’ which lets players pick the best fit for each position from a five-player draw.
After stealing Pvt Megan Martin’s card at a party, Pvt Lewis Billam also purchased 16Euros worth of items at a local garage.
Pvt Lewis Billam was caught when everyone who attended the party in March 2020 was rounded up and asked to show their Xbox account history if they had one. When Pvt Lewis Billam showed his account, it had clearly been used to make the three transactions and he was then found in possession of the card.
Private Lewis frauds another colleague
British Army soldier, Private Lewis Billam
Well, it seems Pvt Lewis has been in the act of frauding people and using other people’s banking cards to purchase items for some time now. It can be recalled that before this incident, Pvt Lewis Billam used another colleague’s card to buy 227Euros worth of items in Tesco.
According to reports, in August 2019, Pvt Lewis Billam approached a Lance Corporal, Joshua Gibbon, and asked to borrow his card to buy cigarettes and a drink, promising to return the card later. But instead of cigarettes and a drink, Pvt Lewis Billam bought something worth 101Euros and another item worth 126Euros.
The court heard that Pvt Lewis Billam’s excessive consumption of alcohol had led him to having little or no money in the past.
That notwithstanding, Judge Advocate, Alistair McGrigor told Pvt Lewis Billam that he would be dismissed from the military as it was clear the army no longer wanted to keep him on. He said: “Soldiers who steal from colleagues undermine the respect and comradeship that is the basis of service life”.
Pvt Billam, who served at the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, told the court he “deeply regret” and apologize for what he had done after previously pleading guilty to three charges of fraud.
He said: “The things that I did were not acceptable and I do sincerely apologize”.
As well as being kicked out of the army, Pvt Lewis Billam was ordered to repay the full amount of the money he took from Pvt Martin and Lance Corporal Gibbon and received a 12-month service community order with a 30 days rehab activity requirement.
Pvt Billam admitted three counts of fraud at Bulford Military Court and was dismissed from the army as well as being handed a 12-month community order.
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