Bethnal Green man jailed for conning elderly

THREE YOUNG MEN who had been conning vulnerable elderly people appeared at Blackfriars Crow Court just before Christmas – where they were convicted of various offences relating to fraud. All three received prison sentences.

The three included Shaheedul Abedin, 20, of Pollard Street, E2, who was sentenced to a year in prison for possessing or supplying articles used in fraud. The other two young criminals lived in central and south London.

Bethnal Green resident Shaheedul Abedin – sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The three con artists were found by chance. As 2016 began, an investigation was launched in Camden into a series of fraud offences. In one of the cases, a 78 year old woman was tricked into handing over £250, her bank cards and her passport to the young criminals. She was telephoned by one of them who posed as a police officer, telling her he was investigating fraudulent activity on her bank account. He agreed a password with her and told her he would send a courier to collect her bank cards and cash. A second member of the gang then went to the woman’s house and quoted the password, and the victim handed over the cash and cards.

In June that year, a police car was responding to an emergency call and it pulled up behind a white Audi. Two young men got out of the Audi and began running away, while a passenger got into the driver’s seat and drove the vehicle away. The police managed to catch the two men (one of whom was Abedin) who were running away.

When they retraced the route along which the youngsters had flex, the police found a brown envelope, which contained material stolen from the 78 year old woman – and a list of the names and addresses of a further 45 vulnerable elderly people in Camden. the list had been compiled by Charlie Heath, 23, of Whidborne Street WC1, who worked for Camden Council and had managed to access files he was not entitled to see. Heath, one of the three men in the gang of fraudsters, was sentenced to three years in prison, having been found guilty of supplying articles for use in fraud.

Detective Constable Neil Pilgrim, said, “Courier fraud is a despicable act that usually takes advantage against the elderly or otherwise vulnerable victims. These three criminals will have the festive period to reflect on their actions. 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.”

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