A man took part in a scam to fleece an elderly couple out of nearly £36,000 after losing his job during lockdown and accruing a drug debt.
Michael Hardman, 28, of Crofton Road, Runcorn, appeared for sentence at Chester Magistrates' court on Tuesday after pleading guilty in October to six counts of theft, money laundering, and simple possession of cannabis,. Hardman's defence barrister argued Hardman's role was limited to allowing his bank account to be used to move the money.
Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, told Chester Crown Court how the phone scam plot targeted John and Mary Thompson, aged 83 and 79, who live in a rural part of Scotland. On January 11 last year they received a call from an unknown caller who said they were from the fraud department at the couple’s bank and gave Mrs Thompson some codes and passed her to another “male” to whom she gave the codes.
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Mrs Thompson was then passed back and told she was overdrawn by £200. She rang a telephone banking number, and was told she was overdrawn by £200 and she instructed the person to transfer £1,000 into the account from their joint account.
That same day, £2 was transferred from Mr Thompson’s account to Hardman’s bank account, followed by a similar £2 transfer.
The amounts then jumped, with £7,960 transferred from Mr Thompson's account on January 16, separate sums of £9,000 and £9,500 from the joint account on January 18, and £9,439.09 on January 19 again from the joint account.
The initial £1,000 didn’t result in a charge, making a total theft sum of £35,903.
Recorder David O’Mahony said the money laundering charge related to £7,000 that was forwarded to another account.
Ms Nemat said text messages on Hardman’s phone showed him discussing cash withdrawals from his account with a man who told him to “get up”.
The man told Hardman: “Get up you f***ing parcel, lad ur f***ing this up already get ye f***in a** up, get the f*** up now.”
He then said Hardman should say he was “paying ye wife and she lives in London”. He followed up and asked: “U ok gman?”
Hardman replied: “Ye msn she’s okd it just waitin for security to answer.”
After confirming the “block” could be removed on the transaction, the other man told Hardman: “Laughing gman after she does that ask for the quid while ye there.”
As he completed the withdrawal, Hardman messaged: “Comin out now, gettin cash out. Just got me self a date iv just chatted that much s***.”
Ms Nemat said nobody else has been arrested in connection with the scam but enquiries continued. None of the cash was recovered but the bank refunded the victims. Hardman was arrested in March this year.
In his impact statement, Mr Thompson said the couple were now “a lot less trusting of people, especially of anyone on the telephone” and the thefts had caused “more isolation” because they were “fearful” of something similar happening.
Mrs Thompson said phone contact for the couple had been a “lifeline” due to them living in a rural location but they had upgraded to a call screening service and this meant they missed calls from friends and family.
Ms Nemat said Hardman had two previous convictions for four offences including possession with intent to supply an unspecified drug from 2018.
Jeremy Rawson, defending Hardman, pleaded mitigation for the guilty pleas and referred to a pre-sentence report (PSR) and a reference from painter and decorator Hardman’s employer.
He said the phone scam took place during “a dark period of time for the defendant”, who had been in work for 10 years only to lose his job during the Covid-19 lockdown when Hardman turned to drugs.
Mr Rawson said: “He became involved in drugs and as night follows day he became involved in debt.” He was invited to take part in the scam - “a decision he bitterly regrets”. Mr Rawson said Hardman’s father also suffered “threats”.
He said Hardman hadn’t played a “leading participant” in the scam and instead had limited it to allowing the use of his bank account and “he didn’t make the phone calls”. The defence barrister said Hardman has since kicked his cocaine “habit” and found “gainful employment”, while the PSR classed him as a “low risk”.
He added there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” given the lack of further offending and “delay” since the crimes were committed.
Recorder David O’Mahony sentenced Hardman to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, for the money laundering charge, with shorter concurrent sentences for the thefts and cannabis possession. He also ordered 20 rehabilitation days and 200 hours of unpaid work.
The judge said Hardman had been involved “in a money laundering scam that targeted elderly people to rob them of their savings”, but that they were refunded by the bank.
Although “not an easy question” to consider, the judge said the sentence could be suspended as he noted it was “significant” the couple hadn’t lost their money in the end and Hardman had dealt with his drug problem.
Recorder O’Mahony said: “The Thompsons have been reimbursed by the bank so no moneys were lost to them.
“Your explanation is you were pressured into doing this because of drug debts following your loss of a job during Covid-19.
“You said you simply allowed your bank account to be used and there’s some support for that in the text messages and they seem to indicate you being brought in by others.
“You say you didn’t know the vulnerability of the people involved and you say you felt awful when you discovered what happened.”
He added: “The prosecution haven’t gainsaid the idea you were pressured into this because of drug debts but the author of the pre-sentence report is clear you have taken steps to deal with your addiction and I have a reference from your employer saying you are a very good employee and that he supports you.”
The court also ordered a victim surcharge.
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