Conman bought hair implants with dementia couple’s life savings

♦ A conman tricked two dementia patients out of their life savings so that he could buy a new £10,000 hairline.

Syed Bukhari, 38, befriended the two pensioners by posing as a customer services adviser at their Lloyds branch in Blackpool.

Bukhari, who used the name Gerry, had falsely told them there had been “fraudulent transactions” on their bank accounts and promised to help them as he warned their home could be at risk of repossession.

He set up 10 different credit cards and bank accounts. He also redirected the couple’s mail, diverted their telephone landline and attempted to take a £40,000 bank loan, which led to his eventual arrest at Manchester Airport.

By the time police unravelled the scam, the victims’ home in Fulwood, near Preston had been sold to a private company at a knock-down price. They also lost their life savings of £150,000, stealing more than £350,000 in total.

Bukhari, of Withington, Manchester, flew business class to Dubai, stayed in luxury hotels and spent thousands of pounds on a cosmetic implants procedure for his receding hairline.

He was jailed for seven years and 11 months at Preston Crown Court.