Jeffric Carlos Abiera was sentenced Thursday by the Quezon City metropolitan court to a minimum imprisonment of one to two years plus a fine of P100,000 (US$5,858) in violation of section 33 of the E-Commerce Law.

According to a resolution filed by State Prosecutor Geronimo Sy, Abiera was able to break into the computer system of the credit card company affiliated with his former employer Sitel Philippines Corp.

Abiera was able to gain access to a database maintained by Sitel's sister firm in the United States and, using an internal IP address, proceeded to purchase goods online using various credit cards.

Fastnet Communications Inc., a local company that operates e-commerce sites www.pinasgift.com and www.philgrocer.com, lodged a complaint before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after recording fraudulent credit card transactions from December last year to January, whose deliveries had a common recipient in a certain "Jeff Carlos" of San Juan, Metro Manila.