Fake death fraudster back in prison for conning OAP

A fraudster previously sent to jail for faking his own death has been sent back to prison for posing as a will writer to con a 94-year-old man out of his home.

Anthony Mcerlean, 73, of Union Road, Canterbury, obtained power of attorney over George Manwill and moved him into an old people’s home after helping him sell his house in 2016.

He then tried to buy a £39,000 necklace from a city jewellers with the pensioner’s money and bought a £16,000 Audi, claiming he needed it to take the victim to his medical appointments.

A Santander bond, worth £ 135,000, went straight into Mcerlean’s bank account.

Now, he has been jailed for five years for the elaborate scam. He will face a proceeds of crime hearing in the next few months.

Mcerlean was convicted of fraud in 2011 after he faked his own death to pocket a £520,000 life insurance payout.

He filled in documents under his wife’s name and claimed he had been hit and killed by a cabbage truck in Honduras.

But unlike so-called Canoe Man John Darwin, who fooled insurers into making a payout, Mcerlean did not get a penny.

He was undone when his fingerprints were traced on his forged death certificate.

The bespectacled pensioner has previous convictions including for robbery and possession of a firearm dating back to 1963.

His sentence for faking his own death was reduced from six to five years due to “ill-health”.

Mcerlean, who claims to have a brain tumour, was convicted of dishonestly obtaining lasting power of attorney for gain. He was sentenced on Friday.