WOMEN GAVE £22k TO TEEN FRAUDSTER IN CRUEL SCAM
KYE HARWOOD WAS PART OF A FAKE POLICE OFFICER CON WHICH PERSUADED ELDERLY TRIO TO WITHDRAW THOUSANDS FROM THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS
A TEENAGER collected thousands of pounds from elderly women who had been persuaded to withdraw huge sums from their banks, believing they were assisting in a police investigation.
Kye Harwood, 19, was only caught after a neighbour was concerned to see a vulnerable lady sat with thousands of pounds on her kitchen table, which was due to collected by a man in a taxi.
Cardiff Crown Court heard the elderly woman was one of three, aged between 81 and 97, who had been rung by a man posing as a detective who persuaded them he was investigating an “inside job” at their bank and needed them to withdraw huge sums so it could be fingerprinted.
The sentencing hearing yesterday was told one of the victims, a 97-year-old from Cardiff, was contacted on February 5 from someone claiming to be “Detective Mason”.
He told her he was calling from New Scotland Yard and said her Visa card had been used to buy £600 worth of goods including a camera.
Prosecutor Andrew Kendall said the caller then gave the woman a phone number for her to call to check if he was legitimate or not.
When she called the number, the person on the other end said Detective Mason was legitimate and confirmed her card had been used. She was contacted again by Detective Mason and was told the theft from her card was an “inside job” by her bank.
At some point, he asked her to withdraw money from her bank account to help the police with their investigation, and they would send someone to collect the money to it examine for finger prints at a police laboratory in London.
She visited her local bank and withdrew £7,000, telling the cashier she was using the money to pay for work done on her bathroom.
She was contacted again by Detective Mason who asked her to read out the serial numbers of the bank notes. When she did so, he told her the money was fake and the cashier at the bank was in on the theft.
At 10pm, a male turned up to collect the money, which was put in a shoebox and a Marks and Spencer bag and taken away.
On February 7, she was contacted again by the same man and was told to withdraw another £8,000. This money was collected by another man, who was the defendant Harwood.
Mr Kendal said the same thing happened to two other women in the Cardiff area with Harwood attending two other addresses on February 7.
He collected £4,600 from a second victim, 83, and £10,000 from a third victim, 81, bringing the total amount taken by Harwood to £22,600.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Harwood became involved in the fraud in order to pay off a drug debt to an organised crime gang in London.
In February, he came to Cardiff and carried out the role of a courier. He was arrested by the real police while attempting to get a taxi back to London and was found with £10,000 down his trousers.
Speaking after the hearing, South Wales Police said thanks to the neighbour’s concern on February 7, an alert had been sent to local taxi firms to keep an eye out for a man matching the description.
Later that day, taxi firm Cab64 called police to report a man was trying to book a taxi to London from Penarth Road in Cardiff.
During the sentencing, Cardiff, Crown Court heard Harwood was taken to Cardiff Bay police station and charged. He later pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation. There is no suggestion Harwood was behind the telephone calls or was involved in the February 5 collection. Out of the total taken by Harwood, £10,000 was recovered from his trousers and returned to one of the victims but the remaining funds are unaccounted for.
Defence barrister Heath Edwards said Harwood, from London, was bullied at school and “fell in with the wrong crowd” which brought him into contact with people higher up the chain of the operation.
He said Harwood, who has spent the last six months in custody, became involved to pay off a drug debt but had not directly financially gained as a result of the offences.
When asked the names of the people who instructed him by the police, Harwood declined to tell them.
Sentencing, Judge David Wynn Morgan said the court was “sick and tired” of the main perpetrators getting away “scot free” through intimidation.
He added: “You now realise what happens when sophisticated criminals with no sense of shame and absolutely no conscience deliberately target vulnerable people and when the crime is carried out they sent people like you to collect the proceeds and to avoid being caught themselves.”
Harwood, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 24 months.
Detective Constable Amy Evans, officer in the case, said: “This was a callous and cruel crime in which Harwood preyed on elderly people in our communities. These incidents have had a profound effect upon the victims and has left them questioning who they can trust.
“I would like to thank the neighbours and the taxi firm who both alerted police to their suspicions. As a result of their information and assistance, officers were able to apprehend Harwood. Unfortunately, Harwood is not the only criminal using this type of scam. This is a sophisticated scam which is being used nationally.”
■ To report any suspicious calls you can contact South Wales Police on 101 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.