Jail for ‘despicable’ former Stanion man who impersonated dead mum to defraud dad out of £56,000

A man has been jailed for two years after a court was told how he defrauded his father out of his life savings by transferring up to £56,000 into his own bank account.

Daniel Cuthbert, 42, targeted his father, who lived in Northamptonshire, over a period of 14 months in 2017-18 by moving large sums of money out of his account, in one case his father’s entire redundancy pay-out.

Preston Crown Court was told Cuthbert made multiple telephone banking calls purporting to be his father, and on at least nine occasions also rang to make transfers while putting on a female voice and pretending to be his mother who had died a few months before the fraud began.

The court heard Cuthbert made eight separate calls after his mother’s death, purporting to be her, and leading to a total of £9,000 being transferred into his account.

In addition, Cuthbert, formerly of Warwick Avenue, Stanion, drew up loans in his father’s names, settlements the victim was unaware of and which led to him eventually losing his house as a result of the amassed debts.

An investigation by Northamptonshire Police’s Volume Fraud team revealed the victim had first noticed suspicious activity in mid-2017 and confronted his son, but chose to believe him as he was still recovering from the loss of his wife.

However, he received a visit from a building society in early 2018 and was told he was going to lose his house due to debt arrears which he knew nothing about.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Cuthbert, who admitted fraud by false representation, was issued with a five-year restraining order.

Sgt Mike Rogers, from the Northants Police’s Volume Crime Team, said: “This was a really despicable abuse of trust by this man who falsely represented his father and even his late mother, in order to defraud them out of more than £56,000.

“This was a complex investigation, but due to some excellent work by the lead investigator, Cuthbert has been jailed and will now have plenty of time to reflect on his actions. We hope this brings some closure to the victim who was put through a horrendous ordeal by his son only months after losing his wife.

“We will work tirelessly in bringing such offenders to justice and getting results for the victims and anyone who has suspicions they have become a victim of fraud should report it to Northamptonshire Police on 101.”