Suspended sentence for fraudster

A man from Birmingham who attempted to steal £8,300 from a vulnerable Macclesfield man has been sentenced to just 15 weeks in prison, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 60 hours unpaid work.

The 85-year-old victim received a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer. The caller convinced the victim that there had been a number of suspicious transactions on his bank account and that his money was at risk and told him that police believed the suspect in the case was an employee at the bank. 

The victim was told that in order to secure his savings he should withdraw it from his bank, return home with the cash where a courier would collect it. 

Taken in by the caller, the aged victim went to his bank in Macclesfield but was told it was only possible to withdraw £1,000. 

Whilst waiting for his cash at the counter, he spotted a Cheshire police poster stating that “police would never ask you to withdraw money from your bank”. 

Realising he was in the process of a scam, he went to Macclesfield Police Station and plain clothed officers went to the victim’s house and waited for the courier. 

Marcello Gaspar subsequently knocked on door and told the victim he was there to collect the cash on behalf of a police sergeant. Gaspar, of Arundel Road, Birmingham, was arrested at the address on suspicion of fraud by false representation. 

He pleaded guilty to the offence and appeared at Chester Crown Court where he was sentenced to just 15 weeks in prison, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 60 hours unpaid work.