Student found guilty of money laundering after sophisticated scam cons pensioner

Mohamed Sharif, of Marlowe Avenue, was given £250 to pass his bank details on to a gang who were running a sophisticated phone scam. This information was then used to set up 9 new bank accounts in his name which received money from an unsuspecting victim in his 70s.

£21,500 was moved to 18 different accounts, 10 of them belonging to Sharif meaning £11,000 was transferred to accounts in his name (9 new accounts plus his original account). He then met up with three men in London, withdrew the money from various currency exchanges and ATMs before handing it over to them.

Detective Constable Rachael Fairbairn from Wiltshire Police’s Complex Fraud Team said:

"This is a very sad case as the victim's family say he was meticulous when it came to making sure his financial information was secure and would regularly shred any sensitive documents. They told me that the fraud caused him a lot of stress and they believe this was a contributory factor in his death a few months later.

"It's caused them a huge amount of distress and they're feeling the effects of those phone calls to this very day.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Mohamed Sharif made some really stupid decisions here. He was studying for a finance degree and wanted to be a chartered accountant. For the sake of £250, he's lost any chance of working in that sector and it will take him years, if not decades to rebuild his credit rating and access to mainstream bank accounts.

"He tried to claim he had no idea that this was fraudulent but anyone with any sense would steer clear of this type of offer.

"His story should act as a warning because students are being targeted by these gangs because they think students don't have much money and they don't have the nous to say no. Our advice is simple - if someone offers you money in exchange for your bank details, don't give them away. If you do, and you suspect your account is being used for fraud, then that is an offence of money laundering, even if you have no knowledge of or involvement in the original fraud"

Sharif was given a community order, which includes a 150-hour unpaid work requirement, and ordered to pay £85 to fund victim services.