Blackfriars Crown Court heard how Shaheedul Abedin, 20, from Pollard Street in Bethnal Green, along with two other men fooled a 78-year-old victim into giving them £250, her bank cards, as well as her passport.
Abedin, along with Charlie Heath, 23, from King's Cross, and Kawsar Ahmed, 19, from Sydenham Hill took part in a scam where an impostor posed as a police officer and persuaded the victim from Camden that she had been a victim of a bank fraud and should hand over cash to them. She was also told to give the “courier” the money along with her passport and bank cards in June 2016.
Police arrested Abedin and found a brown envelope thrown along the route he had used to try and escape from the police. The envelope had the Audi's registration details that Abedin had been driving written on it. The envelope contained the victim's passport, banks cards, as well as a list of 45 names, addresses and contact numbers of elderly residents in Camden.
Charlie Heath worked for Camden Council and drew up the list of vulnerable elderly victims to target.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Neil Pilgrim said, “Courier fraud is a despicable act that usually takes advantage against the elderly or otherwise vulnerable victims... The Met's advice about courier fraud is that the police and your bank will never ask for your PIN number or your bank cards. If you are called and asked for these items – hang up straight away. The police will never call you at home and ask you for money, whatever the reason.”
In December 2017, the three men were convicted of possessing or supplying articles for use in fraud. Abedin was jailed for one year, Charlie Heath was sentences to three years, while Kawsar Ahmed will serve 16 months in jail. A fourth suspect was acquitted in court.
