Two mobile phone salesmen who admitted being part of a fraud worth up to £38,000 were jailed yesterday.

John Quainoo and Alexander Fyvie admitted handling stolen goods while employed as sales consultants at Phones 4u in Cornmarket Street, Oxford.

Oxford Crown Court heard police and company bosses became suspicious in late 2005 when they received complaints from customers about identity theft — their details being fraudulently used to open accounts at the store.

Henry James, prosecuting, said: "Investigations were started into the staff there.

"With Mr Quainoo and Mr Fyvie it was found that the levels of fraudulent accounts recorded against their sales was significantly above the average."

Mr James said police raided the pair's home addresses and found stolen items.

At Quainoo's home in Cornwallis Road, Cowley, officers found credit card details, phone contracts, utility bills, a fake driving licence and mobile phones.

At Fyvie's address in Waverley Avenue, Kidlington, they found four credit cards, two driving licences and photocopies of phone contracts.

Mr James said Phones 4u had calculated that £34,996 of fraudulent contracts had been opened while Quainoo, 33, was working, and £3,469 while Fyvie, 25, was on shift.

He added he could not prove all of the fraudulent accounts were opened with the pair's knowledge and the figures represented the maximum loss to the company.

Quainoo, now of Bulan Road, Oxford, admitted nine charges of handling stolen goods, one of theft and one of possessing a false driving licence.

Fyvie admitted four charges of handling stolen goods.

The pair denied a further charge of conspiracy, which was ordered to lie on the court file.

The court heard the Crown Prosecution Service was also planning to take action under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Edward Boateng Addo, defending Quainoo, said: "He is desperate to pay back the debt to society."

Peter Coombe, defending Fyvie, said: "It is difficult to know whether he was duped, or was part and parcel of the duping."

Mr Recorder Richard Prior jailed Quainoo for 15 months and Fyvie for 12 months.

He said: "There is only one possible inference from the surrounding circumstances of these offences and that is you had the stolen goods in your possession for thoroughly dishonest purposes."

Speaking after yesterday's sentencing, Lewis Porter, head of security and investigations at Phones 4u, said: "This investigation commenced as a result of complaints made by customers of identification fraud involving personal documents used to purchase mobile phone contracts without their knowledge.

"Phones 4u operates a prosecution policy designed to protect the integrity of our customers and the good name of the company."