These south London criminals scammed innocent people out of hundreds - and in some cases thousands - of pounds and brought untold distress to their victims.
Among recent cases covered by the News Shopper was that of Alistair Anderson, who appeared to be an “honest friend” taking care of a pensioner whose health was declining during the Covid lockdown, but over the course of two years he stole £90,000 to feed his gambling addiction.
Another case covered by Your Local Guardian was that of David Chambers who stole an 81-year-old woman’s life savings by spending all the money in her bank accounts, stealing her jewellery and taking out a £26,000 finance agreement for a Mercedes in her name.
Fraudster Chambers had also previously conned a 92-year-old woman out of £140 by administering a fake Covid jab.
Here is a round-up of offenders who appeared in court in recent months for their fraudulent actions.
Alistair Anderson
But over the course of two years the former- chef and Westminster Abbey Marshal stole £90,000 to feed his online gambling addiction.
A court heard that his offending began in 2020 and continued until March 2022.
The pensioner had invited Anderson to move in with him in Bromley when he was without a home, the court heard.
Judge Ben Gumpert KC said: “You were the beneficiary of his kindness.”
But the pensioner’s health declined and Anderson, appearing to be an “honest friend”, took on a caring role.
“As his health deteriorated you realised you had the opportunity to exploit his trust and goodwill, because you had access to his bank account,” Judge Benjamin Gumpert said.
“Instead of using that bank account for his benefits, or even for both or your benefits as you were living in the same home, you used it to satisfy your addiction – as it is called – to gambling.”
In the aftermath of Anderson’s wicked behaviour the pensioner was diagnosed with dementia and was no longer able to live independently.
With his savings gone, his home was sold to pay for his care home fees, a court heard.
Anderson was given a suspended sentence for the offence and left court a free man.
David Chambers
The woman invited 36-year-old David Chambers to live at her home rent-free, feeling sorry for him as he was out of work and his marriage had broken down.
But Chambers took advantage of her generosity - spending all the money in her bank accounts, stealing her jewellery and taking out a £26,000 finance agreement for a Mercedes in her name.
And this is not the only time that the fraudster has targeted the elderly.
Previously Chambers turned up at a 92-year-old woman’s home with an NHS lanyard and told her he was there to administer a Covid-19 vaccine.
He then pricked her on the arm with a dart-like implement and told her she owed him £140.
Read the full story - Sutton woman, 81, has life savings stolen by conman she 'treated like a son'
Ibrahim Moro and Rebecca Patrick
The couple used dating sites to convince old people that they were in the loving relationships they desperately craved.
One elderly Australian man who believed he was in a relationship with Patrick was initially asked for small amounts to buy her clothes for the winter.
But Patrick then told him she was entitled to 78kg of gold in Ghana and had to pay for it to be released.
She told the elderly man that when it was released she would move to Australia and live with him.
The man transferred almost £138,000 to the fraudsters.
The Australian man died before Moro and Patrick were sentenced.
Moro and Patrick also convinced an elderly woman that she was in a relationship with a man she met online, but in reality that man didn't exist.
They persuaded her to send £18,000 by telling her they were having insurance problems.
Another woman was tricked into sending money to a man she thought was a German widower living in Ascot who was buying gold, silver and diamonds for clients.
Moro was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison while Patrick got an 18 month suspended sentence.
Read the full story - Bromley couple tricked old people into sending £100,000s in cruel romance scam
Kawsar Ahmed
He was part of a group of six men who targeted thousands of potential victims across the country by telephone.
They pretended to be police officers and relayed a convincing tale of a fraud investigation which had identified counterfeit currency being transferred into the victim’s bank accounts.
They would then encourage the victim to remove thousands of pounds from their accounts immediately and hand it over to a “courier” sent by “the police”.
They conned at least 60 vulnerable victims out of more than £290,000 between 2019 and 2021.
Most of the victims were over the age of 75, and two were aged 99.
Some of them were terminally ill, recently widowed or suffered dementia and other age related issues.
A number of the victims have been unable to recoup their losses.
Ahmed was sentenced to four years imprisonment for fraud offences.
This wasn’t the first time Ahmed was jailed for fraud related offences.
In December 2017 he was given a 16-month sentence for his involvement in a group which tricked a 78-year-old woman into handing over £250, her bank cards and a passport.
Ashley Singh
Singh and his girlfriend Sophie Bruyea, 20, rifled through people’s lockers while they were working out, stealing bank and SIM cards.
They would then max out the credit cards on expensive tech and designer clothes which they sold on.
The couple used this cash to buy lavish holidays and a pedigree puppy, as well as expensive shoes and bags.
In January Singh was jailed for three years.
But this wasn’t the first time Singh had committed this type of crime.
Singh was previously jailed for six and a half years for the same offence in 2019.
Jerry Ozor, Emmanuel Samuel and Jonathan Abraham
They were arrested in south London and extradited to the United States to face trials.
The trio have now been found guilty of fraud after a court in Florida heard how they sent unexpected letters to people informing them that a long lost relative had passed away and that they were in line to inherit their assets.
Victims were then drawn into further communications where they would be persuaded to pay charges in order to release the assets.
Thousands of victims, mainly in the US, were targeted and the National Crime Agency (NCA) said millions of dollars of fraud has been identified.
Read the full story - South east Londoners jailed for scamming vulnerable and elderly Americans
- Abraham, 44, of Cumberland Place in Hither Green, was jailed for seven years and six months.
- Samuel, 44, of Longhurst Road in Croydon, was jailed for six years and ten months.
- Ozor, 43, of Wadhurst Court in Penge, was jailed for seven years and three months.
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