Judge commends bank staff during fraud sentencing

Bank staff who helped to stop an elderly man from withdrawing thousands of pounds have been commended by a judge during a hearing.

Aaron Wiltshire

During the sentencing of Aaron Wiltshire the judge at Maidstone Crown Court said that he would like to commend staff at the Gravesend branch of NatWest for stopping the transaction and alerting Kent Trading Standards which got in touch with Kent Police.

Wiltshire, 31 of Page Crescent, Slade Green, was jailed for four years after being found guilty by a jury on two counts of fraud by false representation. He was given an additional four weeks for breaching a suspended sentence relating to another incident during the sentencing on Monday 19 February 2018.

The judge heard how on Tuesday 17 January 2017 a man knocked on the victim’s front door in Old Perry Street, Northfleet claiming that he lived near the man and that there was a problem causing his water to go brown and that he thought this may also be affecting him.

Two days later on Thursday 19 January the victim received another knock at the door by a different man claiming there was a problem with the victim’s water which would require a lot of specialist equipment. This man, later identified as Aaron Wiltshire, then stated that it would cost around £9,000 to repair.

The victim, who is in his 90’s, gave the man his mobile phone number and later that day he received a call from a man discussing the repairs.

The man told the victim he would need a £3,000 deposit and believing the man the victim went to the NatWest bank in Gravesend to withdraw the money, however staff would not release the funds as they felt it was suspicious.

On Friday 20 January Wiltshire visited the victim’s address and took him via a number of taxis to banks in Dartford to withdraw funds up to £1,700. Returning to his address Wiltshire then told the man that he wanted more cash.

The victim told Wiltshire he had no further money and wrote out a cheque for £19,800 which Wiltshire took before leaving.

Later that night the victim was contacted by an officer at Kent Police. The victim then cancelled the cheque and his cards.

The next day Wiltshire went back to the victim’s address asking why he cancelled the cheque. The victim told him that he did not wish to go ahead with the work now. The man was also told that solicitors would be contacted over the breach of contract. Wiltshire then ripped up the cheque before leaving.

Following an investigation by Kent Police, Wiltshire was identified through CCTV and was arrested and later charged with fraud.

Investigating officer PC Colin Bassett said: ‘Wiltshire preyed on a vulnerable man on numerous occasions pressurising him to hand over thousands of pounds of cash without any care for the victim. I’d like to echo the judge’s sentiments and commend the staff at the bank for stopping the first large transaction and passing on their concerns. Had it not been for those staff then this case would have had a very different outcome and who knows where it would have stopped.

‘If anyone thinks they have been a victim of fraud or believes someone they know may be being targeted then please do get in touch with Kent Police so officers can investigate fully’.