Will fraudster stole £160,000 from dead man
A heartless fraudster took part in a sophisticated plot to steal more than £160,000 from a dead man by being falsely registered as their executor.
Troy Phillips, 44, joined in the scam led by Barclays Bereavement Service Centre employee Ravi Dubede, which stole more than £270,000 from the accounts of two dead customers, Warwick Crown Court heard.
The scheme saw money initially transferred to the accounts of two falsely registered executors, Phillips, of New Street, Hill Top, West Bromwich, and Kyle Wilson, from Oxford, and then went through numerous money-laundering transactions.
The offences came to light after the genuine executors of the wills contacted Barclays and at court Dubede, Phillips, Wilson and four others were jailed.
Phillips and Wilson, 33, of Oxford, pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property and were both jailed for 21 months.
Dubede, 32, of Coventry, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to two charges of conspiracy to steal.
In Phillips' case, an elderly Barclays customer died in 2012 and Dubede was involved in 'a legitimate task' in relation to his pension. A letter was then sent to Barclays purporting to be from Phillips, providing false documents indicating he was the sole executor of the man's estate.
That was followed by a false grant of probate, resulting in the £162,923 in the man's accounts being transferred to Phillips. Soon after that £67,000 was withdrawn in sums of up to £10,000 a time to avoid triggering money laundering inquiries.
Other amounts were transferred, including £40,000 to Wilson, £30,000 to Pawel Pyszczek and £10,000 to Lukasz.
A second case involved another Barclays customer, aged 90, who also died in 2012, with Wilson being falsely registered as executor.
A total of £112,248 was taken from the woman's account. Twins Pawel and Lukasz Pyszczek and Mateusz Bazanek pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property.
Sanjeev Sharma was found guilty of that charge after a trial and was jailed for 28 months. Pawel Pyszczek, 31, got nine months; Lukasz, seven months and Bazanek, 30, six months. All three lived in Oxford.
