National conman nabbed by smart North East neighbour after trying to snare 87-year-old victim
The smart thinking of a North East neighbour has brought a national conman to justice.
Cruel conmen accessed pensioners' bank accounts in a UK-wide £56,000 fraud then used their cash to buy high-value phones, designer clothes and jewellery.
A total of 14 elderly victims, living as far north as Scotland right down to Devon, many who have since died, were targeted in the large scale con where fraudsters convinced vulnerable people that their accounts had been hacked.
Bank card passed on to couriers
Newcastle Crown Court heard they were then persuaded to hand their bank card to legitimate couriers, who unwittingly passed them on to the criminals so their accounts could be raided.
Their cash was used by the fraudsters to splash out on expensive iPhones, designer clothes including £600 bodywarmers and repeated attempts to purchase a £4,000 Cartier bracelet.
People, aged up to their 90s, living in Devon, Gloucestershire, Brighton, Winchester, Wakefield, Bognor Regis, Norfolk, Cambridge and some in Scotland, including Edinburgh, were conned out of their cash during the fraud in 2022.
‘Little time to think’
Surviving victims said the conmen were persistent and gave them little time to think logically during the telephone calls.
Taiwo Lawal-Owinifari, 24, of Brockhill Crescent, London, was exposed as one of the fraudsters after a neighbour of a victim living in Sunderland grew suspicious about what was going on.
The neighbour tipped off the police, who intercepted the courier and phone records led to Lawal-Owinifari.
Prosecutor Jessica Slaughter told the court: “The defendant was involved in making phone calls and organising courier services to collect the bank cards.
“He also used the bank cards for purchases and attempted purchases.”
Miss Slaughter added: “The police became involved in April 2022 when a neighbour contacted them to report concern for a victim, who was 87 and has since died.
“A courier had attended to collect his bank card and was arrested by the police.”
Miss Slaughter said the courier was a legitimate worker and when his phone was searched by the police the information on it led to Lawal-Owinifari.
Lawal-Owinifari admitted conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Mr Recorder Dapinder Singh KC sentenced him to two years and nine months.
The court heard Lawal-Owinifari is currently detained in hospital receiving treatment for schizoaffective disorder, which psychiatrists have concluded does not reduce his culpability for the offending.
Brian Hegarty, defending, said: “He was in debt to others who, it would appear, have exploited him. There were threats and threats of violence against him to get him to do as they said.”
The court heard Lawal-Owinifari has no similar convictions.