Pensioner scammed out of £333,000 in scheme linked to local shop owner

A pensioner was scammed out of £333,000 in a bogus bank fraud.

The victim was conned into believing that there was suspicious activity on his account by a man pretending to work for TSB Bank in January 2024.

The 81-year-old was then persuaded to open two new accounts and send the relevant cards to a grocery shop run by Mohammed Asif in Uddingston, Lanarkshire.

The stolen cash was then used to buy almost £200,000 of Apple products and more than £40,000 of gold.

Asif, 50, is now behind bars after he pleaded guilty to a charge of being involved in an arrangement for the use of criminal property.

He will be sentenced at a later date at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The victim had received a call from a person with an English accent claiming to be a David Gray from TSB Bank.

The OAP was told that his account had been compromised and suspicious activity had been detected.

Further calls over several weeks led to the man agreeing to set up two new accounts.

Fiscal Julianna Keenan told the court: “In the belief he was acting on instruction from the bank, [the victim] transferred a total of £333,292.86 out of his bank account to these new accounts.

“The people who spoke to [the victim] on the phone did not work for TSB Bank and have never been identified.”

The victim also went on to send the bank cards to a James Hunt at the address of Asif’s shop.

One was used to make various purchases in the Glasgow area, which included £176,107 at Apple.

The card also helped purchase to make £42,766.64 of purchases from online retailer, Chards, which deals in precious metals.

The victim was informed that he was to receive packages of gold and to send them on to the same shop in Uddingston.

But, on February 20, 2024, the man eventually suspected that he was the target of a fraudster and contacted the police.

A probe revealed Asif to be a director of the shop.

The store was raided, and he was discovered there at the time.

A black iPhone was found, and there were texts regarding the sale of Apple phones and computers for large amounts.

Ms Keenan added: “It is understood these products referred to in the messages were purchased with [the victim’s] card between January 15 and February 18, 2024.

“The individual who made those purchases was not Mohammed Asif.”

Asif’s phone also revealed that he had searched for “gold bars” and “gold bullion” online.

The fiscal depute stated that it is unknown who made the purchases of gold from Chards or who instructed the victim to send them to Asif’s shop.

It is unknown what happened to the gold bullion once it reached the shop.

Graham Macdonald, defending Asif, told the court that he “facilitated the acts as a middleman.”

The advocate added: “He has a limited understanding of what went on and was not the brains of the operation.”

Asif’s sons, Hussnain Mohammed, 24, and Amir Mohammed, 27, were also separately arrested.

The family home in the city’s Shawlands, where they lived, had also been searched.

Police discovered £35,135 of dirty money, £2,000 of cannabis and £1,180 of cocaine.

The brothers joined their father in the dock.

Both pleaded guilty to being in possession of criminal property. Hussnain further admitted to cannabis trafficking with Amir, who was involved with the cocaine.

Asif was remanded in custody pending reports. The son were bailed.