The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Jailed for‘ despicable’ crimes
A GROUP involved in a fraud scheme that preyed on “vulnerable” elderly victims was jailed yesterday at Perth Sheriff Court.
The court heard that a Crieff couple, aged 88 and 90, received several phone calls from a man stating he was a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s fraud team.
They were followed by a call from the same man stating he was a police officer, telling them that money had been withdrawn from their bank account.
He arranged for a password to be set up to communicate with him and the woman, who is now deceased, believed both fake callers to be genuine. She and her husband handed over £30,000 and later transferred a further £35,000.
One of the other victims, a woman who was 81 at the time, was defrauded when a false driving licence in her name was used to withdraw money from her bank account.
The crimes took place between September 2011 and January 2012 from addresses in Perth, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Azeem Mohammed, 22, of Glasgow, admitted he pretended to an 81-year-old woman that he was a Bank of Scotland employee and induced her to hand over her bank details. He also admitted pretending to an 88-year-old woman and a 90-yearold man that he was a bank employee and a police officer.
He illegally set up internet banking, inducing both to transfer a total of £65,000.
Laura Copleton, 24, of Glasgow, admitted allowing fraudulently obtained money to be transferred into her bank account. Emma Cunningham, 20, of Cumbernauld, admitted inducing payments of £2,003.61 and £2,002.37 by fraud and possessing a fake driving licence.
Igors Rimars, 38, ofAberdeen, had been found guilty after trial of laundering money at business addresses in the city.
Mohammed was jailed for 34 months, Cunningham for seven months, Rimars for a year and Copleton for nine months, for what Sheriff Michael Fletcher called “despicable” crimes.