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'Love-struck' fraudster is jailed
A fraudster smitten by a woman he met randomly at a bus stop has been jailed for 14 months after trying to open a false bank account for her.
Helplessly "infatuated", Shakeel Afzal boasted he could carry out several types of fraud - including opening a bank account for a friend.
But Southwark Crown Court heard the woman was in fact an undercover reporter for the BBC.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud.
The crown heard that Afzal, a clothing wholesaler of no fixed address, claimed he could set up a false bank account for the woman's friend and get him a bogus passport "for a fee".
On the run
The fraudster, with £2,000 and the help of his brother and a bank employee, then set up the account and false passport in the name of Bobby DeSouza.
But Afzal, an "overstayer" from Pakistan, did not realise the woman was in fact Ravneet Tulsi, a reporter for the BBC programme Whistleblower.
He also did not realise that many of their meetings were filmed, and telephone calls recorded.
This was a planned and sophisticated fraud 
Judge Gregory Stone, QC
He only found out when he saw his face on television - and an account of his deception.
Afzal went on the run and was not arrested until January, nearly a year after the programme was aired.
Passing sentence, Judge Gregory Stone, QC, told him: "This was a planned and sophisticated fraud.
"It is inevitable in those circumstances that I impose a prison sentence upon you. I also recommend your deportation."
The court heard the fraudster met Ms Tulsi at a bus stop in Hayes, Middlesex, and struck up a conversation with her.
The reporter, after meeting Afzal's brother, eventually showed a photo of the fictional Mr DeSouza.
"The matter was left in the air with the reporter leaving her details with the defendant," said Gareth Monday, prosecuting.
Lewis Green, defending, said her client, who had stayed over his 2004 tourist visa, had "become infatuated with the lady he met".
A fraudster smitten by a woman he met randomly at a bus stop has been jailed for 14 months after trying to open a false bank account for her.
Helplessly "infatuated", Shakeel Afzal boasted he could carry out several types of fraud - including opening a bank account for a friend.
But Southwark Crown Court heard the woman was in fact an undercover reporter for the BBC.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud.
The crown heard that Afzal, a clothing wholesaler of no fixed address, claimed he could set up a false bank account for the woman's friend and get him a bogus passport "for a fee".
On the run
The fraudster, with £2,000 and the help of his brother and a bank employee, then set up the account and false passport in the name of Bobby DeSouza.
But Afzal, an "overstayer" from Pakistan, did not realise the woman was in fact Ravneet Tulsi, a reporter for the BBC programme Whistleblower.
He also did not realise that many of their meetings were filmed, and telephone calls recorded.
This was a planned and sophisticated fraud Judge Gregory Stone, QC
He only found out when he saw his face on television - and an account of his deception.
Afzal went on the run and was not arrested until January, nearly a year after the programme was aired.
Passing sentence, Judge Gregory Stone, QC, told him: "This was a planned and sophisticated fraud.
"It is inevitable in those circumstances that I impose a prison sentence upon you. I also recommend your deportation."
The court heard the fraudster met Ms Tulsi at a bus stop in Hayes, Middlesex, and struck up a conversation with her.
The reporter, after meeting Afzal's brother, eventually showed a photo of the fictional Mr DeSouza.
"The matter was left in the air with the reporter leaving her details with the defendant," said Gareth Monday, prosecuting.
Lewis Green, defending, said her client, who had stayed over his 2004 tourist visa, had "become infatuated with the lady he met".
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