A callous criminal who conned a confused elderly Surbiton man out of £192,000 has been jailed.
Police were called to Lloyds TSB on Claremont Road in Surbirton by the branch manager on October 18 2013 who reported that a pensioner was requesting to withdraw large amounts of cash.
Two Kingston CID detectives responded to the call, went to the bank and spoke to the elderly man who seemed confused.
The man had withdrawn £192,000 from his account over five months – apparently this money was to pay for building works that he had been having.
Detectives then took him home to continue the investigation and establish whether these building works had taken place.
However when they returned they discovered that no building works were on going and this man had been a victim of a scam.
Ashley Challis, 24, was eventually tracked down and arrested in Leicestershire by Kingston detectives.
He was charged with money laundering and pleaded guilty to the offence at Kingston Crown Court.
He was sentenced to 16 months in prison on May 7 2015.
A Kingston police spokesman said: “We would like to thank Leicestershire Police and Lloyds TSB for their assistance in our investigation.”
