'Sharp-eyed' bank worker foils fake driving licence plot to steal £96,000 of man's savings
A "sharp-eyed" bank manager foiled a plot to steal almost £100,000 of savings from a victim's accounts.
Fraudsters Roy Gibbs, Samson Ojeyemi-Oyadeyi and Olabunmi Olalekan, from Oldbury and Birmingham, attempted to clear the savings account and an ISA of a Halifax customer at the branch in Green End, Whitchurch, Shropshire.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how Ojeyemi-Oyadeyi and Olalekan had gathered personal details of the victim, who was from Northallerton, Yorkshire, and got a fake driving licence made in his name.
Gibbs, 54, was the "front man" of the operation, going into the bank on April 13, 2017 and attempting to fool a bank worker into believing he was the man named on the driving licence.
He tried to close the £66,000 current account and £30,000 ISA in the victim's name and move the money to a different bank. However, the bank manager who served him at the Halifax branch - which closed in November 2022 - grew suspicious.
Gibbs then said he would just take £2,500, which further raised suspicion.
The bank manager went to the back office and called the victim's home phone number. His wife answered and said he was not in Whitchurch. She gave a description of her husband that did not match that of Gibbs.
