Fraudsters conned thousands out of Warwickshire's elderly

The group appeared at Warwick Crown Court this month on a total of 81 fraud charges after targeting vulnerable and elderly people across Warwickshire and Staffordshire over several months.

Shabaz Khan-Pathan, Rashid Sadiq, Suleman Hussain, Miles Akeel Campbell, Mark Campbell, Samiur Rashid and Alim Ahmed - all from Birmingham, either admitted or were found guilty of defrauding their victims out of more than £31,000.

Of the 81 offences, 64 were committed in Warwickshire between October 2014 and January 2015.

Most common was a con where victims’s received phone calls from a person claiming to be from the police and stating that their bank cards had been used fraudulently. They then told the victims that the cards needed to be collected by a courier who then came to their home.

The court heard that most would-be-victims spotted the scam and only 13 people had money was stolen from their accounts as a result of the gang’s attempts.

A total of £9,399.27 was stolen in Warwickshire with attempts to take a further £12,707.77 only prevents thanks to cards being declined or reachign daily spending limits.

Following the trial, detective sergeant Rhys Bower said: “This is a result of a lengthy investigation by Warwickshire Police in partnership with West Mercia Police and Staffordshire Police, in which a substantial number of victims, many of whom are elderly and vulnerable were affected.

“I have seen first hand the devastating impact that this scam has had on victims, whose trust has been abused.

“We would like to thank everyone who provided information or was involved in the investigation in any way.”

Anjuli Shergill, Senior prosecutor from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The defendants deliberately targeted elderly people by pretending to be police officers and bank officials in order to steal from them.

“They were successful on 13 occasions, but there were many more attempted offences and their actions left a number of victims deeply distressed and upset.

“The CPS will now take steps to recover the amount stolen.”

Advice has since been shared of people to be cautious when receiving calls from anyone claiming to be official as no bank staff or police officers would ever ask customers for a cash card or PIN.

The defendants will all be sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on July 15.

Shabaz Khan-Pathan, 47 of Foden Road, Great Barr, Mark Campbell, 38 of Manor Road, Atherstone and Rashid Sadiq, 44 of Albert Road, Aston and a 16-year-old boy from Aston all pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation during the trial.

Suleman Hussain, 20 of Bevington Road, Aston and Miles Akeel Campbell, 24 of Colman Avenue, Wolverhampton both stood trial where they were found guilty of fraud.

Samiur Rashid, 26 of May Tree Grove, Birmingham and Alim Ahmed, 18 of Witton road, Birmingham both pleaded guilty prior to trial.