Man jailed after OAP is conned
A repeat offender has been jailed for eight months after a pensioner was conned into moving nearly £5000 out of his bank account.
Sean Russell, formerly of Threshold, East Mains was sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court.
The 25-year-old was originally accused of fraud but the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to an alternative charge of reset.
The fraud charge stated that Russell and unnamed accomplices committed the crime at the Clydesdale Bank in the Olympia, East Kilbride and elsewhere on January 4 last year.
It was alleged that Russell pretended to the 69-year-old that he was a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland fraud department and that his bank account had been compromised.
To safeguard his money, he was told he had to transfer funds to a certain account.
The truth was, the charge continued, that there was no problem with the OAP’s account but he agreed to move £4900 into what turned out to be Russell’s personal account.
Russell, now of Conservation Place, Wishaw admitted receiving the money – but denied playing a part in the fraud.
Sheriff Douglas Brown heard that Russell has a long criminal record which includes convictions for being concerned in the supply of cannabis and attempted extortion.