Gloating tax conman avoids jail for fleecing man, 86, out of £1800
Scumbag and accomplice race off from court in flash car, shouting abuse at people in the street
A FRAUDSTER who conned a man aged 86 out of £1800 by pretending to be a tax collector gleefully boasted about dodging jail after leaving court.
Mohammed Baig tricked the vulnerable pensioner into handing over the cash after leaving the victim “panicked” that he owed outstanding taxes. The 23-year-old appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday and was given 225 hours of unpaid work and supervision.
Moments after leaving the dock, shameless Baig held up a small suitcase he had packed for prison.
Grinning, Baig told observers right outside the courtroom: “No jail, no jail”.
His co-accused Abdul Sajjad also escaped a prison term for dragging two police constables alongside his car when he tried to flee them.
Outside the court, smug Sajjad showed little repentance at receiving 225 hours of unpaid work and a 10-year driving ban.
Baig reacted in shock and commiserated with his sidekick Sajjad over receiving a decade-long ban.
Together, the laughing pair roared off from outside the court building in a flash car, shouting abuse at people on the street.
Sentencing Baig, Sheriff Kenneth Campbell QC branded his crime “despicable” but said he was taking into account his age and relative lack of record. When Baig pled guilty last month, the court heard that he convinced the OAP to withdraw the money from his bank account after calling his home in Edinburgh’s Mountcastle area.
Fiscal depute Anna Robertson said Baig, who told his elderly victim his name was Jason, claimed the man owed £1800 in unpaid taxes.
The prosecutor said the victim was “panicked and concerned”.
Baig told him that he would call at his home, give a personal code, and the victim should hand over the funds in a white envelope.
The money was collected but workers at Clydesdale Bank noticed the withdrawal and called police due to their customer’s “age and vulnerability”, the court heard.
Baig, of Birmingham, admitted carrying out the fraud by pretending to be a “lawful collector of taxes” on September 25, 2019.
Sajjad, 23, also of Birmingham, previously pled guilty to hitting an officer with his vehicle to her injury while attempting to escape the next day in Mountcastle.
Murray Robertson, defending Baig, told yesterday’s hearing his client had committed “an extremely dismal offence” and demonstrated “shocking behaviour”.
Sentencing had been deferred for reports, and Mr Robertson said Baig expressed “apparent remorse” to the report writer.
Defence agent Calum Turner, representing Sajjad, told the court his hairdresser client was “embarrassed by his actions” which had “brought shame to his family and community”.