Fraudster stole up to £2k from vulnerable Oldham man Charles Ward, 42, befriended his victim in a street in Oldham and then made several unannounced visits to his flat. A fraudster who stole up to £2000 from a vulnerable man after offering to do his shopping has been found guilty. Charles Ward, 42, befriended his victim in a street in Oldham and then made several unannounced visits to his flat. When Ward offered to do the man’s shopping he took his bank card and PIN number. Ward then made a series of cash withdrawals using the man’s debit card. Ward denied six counts of fraud and was due to stand trial at Oldham Magistrates’ Court. But he was found guilty in his absence after he failed to show up at court. His 49-year-old victim said in a police interview shown in court: “I was on my way back from the chemist when he latched onto me. “He started talking to me and he came back for a brew.” The victim, who suffers from depression and has a mental health care worker, said Ward took his card and used it to buy food, but over a period of months he found that up to £2,000 was missing from his bank account. He eventually went to the police. The man said: “Sometimes he gave the card back to me and sometimes he kept it. He said he wouldn’t give it back. I was wondering what was going on. It made me more depressed.” Ward, of Lychgate Court, Oldham, was not represented in court. The six charges related to cash withdrawals in June 2012 totalling around £540. He claimed in police interviews that he had withdrawn the money with the man’s permission. Paul Darnborough, prosecuting, said: “Our case is that it was false representation and he had no authority to use the card throughout the period of the deductions.” Magistrates found the case proved and said Ward was guilty on all counts.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:49:25 +0000