A brazen fraudster who travelled the country and stole almost £35,000 from other people’s bank accounts was finally caught – thanks to suspicious bank staff in Devon. Julian Mabbutt, 53, used false passports and ID to convince cashiers in different towns to hand over money.
The 53-year-old was caught after staff at the NatWest in Newton Abbot stalled him long enough for police to arrive. Mabbutt, who has history of committing similar crimes, has been jailed for three years.
Prosecutor Felicity Payne said Mabbutt walked into the Newton Abbot branch in Courtenay Street on May 15 last year. He presented a false passport and tried to withdraw funds from a genuine account that was not his.
Staff made a pretence of processing the request while waiting for police. They arrived and arrested Mabbutt.
The defendant, of Severn Drive, Northampton, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of fraud and possessing false ID documents for improper purposes.
His offending started 12 months before his eventual arrest at a Lloyd’s Bank. He committed identical frauds at banks in Romford, Luton, Milton Keynes, Cheshire and Birmingham.
Miss Payne said: “The offending is similar in all places. He attends various banks and without authority sets up either benefits to accounts or attempts to withdraw money from accounts by purporting to be that person.
“He presents false passports to withdraw money and cash cheques. The total sum is £34,427.”
She said Mabbutt used false passports that contained the correct details of other people but with his own photo.
Some of his attempts were rumbled by suspicious staff but until Newton Abbot Mabbutt always managed to leave the bank before police arrived. If he had been successful in every attempt he would have stolen £43,427, said the prosecutor. Mabbutt admitted further frauds that were taken into consideration by the court.
The defendant has 137 previous offences on his record. He has previously been jailed for identical offences.
Simon Burns, defending, said he was forced to commit the frauds by an African organised crime gang. The false passports were made by those further up the chain. He was used by the gang to take the risks and did not make much money from it.
Judge David Evans said it was “sophisticated” offending that relied on “bold” tactics. “It was fraudulent activity carried out over a sustained period of time.”