Overview
- Jagex’s support team detected suspicious account recoveries in mid‑2018 and ran a covert internal sting that traced the breaches to developer Andrew Lakeman’s devices and home.
- Lakeman was dismissed in 2018, arrested by Cambridgeshire Police in July 2019 and later charged with unauthorised computer access, theft by employee and related offences.
- Lakeman, who used privileged access to drain high‑value player accounts and sell the virtual items on the black market, banked more than £364,829 in cash from cryptocurrency buyers.
- Lakeman pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Thursday, September 3, 2026, to three years in prison suspended for two years, 150 hours of unpaid work and a 25‑day rehabilitation requirement.
- A Proceeds of Crime Act timetable running to February 2027 aims to recoup the converted funds and the case now stands as a legal precedent confirming in‑game gold can be treated as property under UK theft law.