After pleading guilty to two counts of fraud, 21 year old Shariful Alom of Iffley House, Arnold Circus, London, E2 has been sentenced to two 15 month terms of imprisonment, to run concurrently. Sentencing took place at Snaresbrook Crown Court at the end of May. A further charge of kidnap was not dealt with and is to lie on file.
The court heard how Alom had contacted the 79-year-old man who was to become his victim on Monday, 6th May 2013 from his home phone. He claimed to be a police officer and explained that he had a man in custody on suspicion of cloning the victim’s bank account. Still pretending to be a police officer, he then asked the victim to fetch a bank statement and asked how much money he had in his account. The victim, not suspecting that he was being duped, provided all of the information that the suspect asked for.
The suspect was then told to expect a plain clothed police officer to call who would take him to Westfield Shopping Centre where the victim should buy some Rolex watches. He explained that the purchase of the watches would be part of the investigation and would assist the victim in getting his money back.
When the victim hung up the phone to the fictitious police officer, a man knocked at his front door almost immediately. Assuming this was a plain clothed officer; the victim went with the man and got into a waiting car. The victim was helped into the back of the car; the suspect got into the front passenger seat; and a third man was driving the vehicle. The victim was driven to a branch of high end retail jewellers where he bought two Rolex watches to the value of £11,200. The suspect then took the victim to a cash machine where he told him to withdraw £200. The victim could not manage this so the suspect did it for him.
The suspect tried to withdraw a further £200, but the machine would not allow the withdrawal.
The victim was then taken back to the waiting car that had brought him to the shopping centre. The suspect however, did not get into the car. The victim was driven home by the driver of the car alone.
When the victim arrived home he was greeted by his daughters who were concerned about him. As he arrived home, the “police officer” called again, but this time the call was answered by the victim’s daughters, who immediately contacted the police.
The driver of the vehicle used to take the victim to Westfield Shopping Centre was a legitimate cab driver. When he was asked to wait for his passengers to return at Westfield he insisted on taking the suspect’s mobile telephone number. The mobile phone number supplied to the cab driver was registered to Shariful Alom of Iffley House, Arnold Circus, London, E2.
On 24th May 2013, a warrant was executed on Alom’s address and he was arrested for fraud by false representation and conspiracy to kidnap. He was released on bail to return on 19th August 2013. The investigation continued and ended with the recent successful prosecution.
Detective Constable Kirsty Watley said: “Sadly, the victim in this case did not live to see the sentencing of Alom, but I do hope that the outcome provides some small measure of closure for the victim’s daughters, friends and extended family.”