text: Mbaeri, of Hamilton Court, Ashby Place, Portsmouth, denies fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud . A Nationwide branch manager conned elderly customers out of their life savings by setting up bogus standing orders for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Hugo Mbaeri, 25, from Portsmouth allegedly handed over customer names, account details and signatures to a gang of fraudsters while he was working at Nationwide Building Society, a court heard. The alleged ringleader of the scheme, Olawabiyi Ayanwale, who is not before the court, set up standing orders by impersonating the victims, it is said. Mbaeri is on trial for fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud at the Old Bailey. He is in the dock alongside seven others who are accused of using their accounts to siphon the funds away. Abiola Balogun, 22, Gideon Boateng, 19, Tevin Campbell, 20, Joshua Clark, 20, Rebecca Jack, 21, Patrick Reddington, 20, and Christiana Tella, 19, were allegedly paid around £300 each for letting the fraudsters use their bank accounts. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay described the scam as a ‘nasty little fraud’ that ‘deliberately targeted elderly people with the aim of clearing them out of their life savings’. ‘Hugo Mbaeri is the inside man in this fraud and the remaining defendants in the dock allowed their accounts to be used for the stolen money to be passed through. ‘It wasn’t a particularly sophisticated fraud but it’s a fraud which, were it not detected, would have netted the fraudsters hundreds of thousands of pounds and caused a loss in life savings to the victims. ‘The set-up was quite straight forward - standing orders were set up from these elderly people’s accounts to withdraw money. That’s it, it’s as simple as that. Mbaeri used the bank’s computer system to access nine customers’ details and signatures which he sold on to the fraudsters, the court was told. He worked as a cashier at the Fareham branch in Hampshire until February 2013 when he was promoted to branch manager in Gosport, Hampshire. The fraud was allegedly carried out from May 2012 to May 2013 and many of the victims were elderly or vulnerable, four were in their 80s and another three were over 65. ‘We say Mr Mbaeri looked up those people’s details for a dishonest purpose, not because they came into the branch or were making a genuine enquiry,’ Mr Polnay said. Mbaeri is on trial for fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud at the Old Bailey (pictured). He is in the dock alongside seven others who are accused of using their accounts to siphon the funds away. ‘They were older people, it’s not just a random nine accounts.’ He added: ‘The records show Mr Mbaeri and not anybody else was the one person who accessed all the signature details for all the people who were victims of the fraud. ‘The information was used to set up false standing orders by impersonating those people. ‘Undoubtedly there were other people involved in the fraud as well who recruited people to allow their accounts to be used in the fraud. ‘There was an agreement to impersonate Nationwide customers, Olawabiyi Ayanwale was the ringleader and a part of that plan was Mr Mbaeri. ‘He agreed that the signatures and details he obtained would be put to that use.’ Standing orders for around £2,500 were set up from each of the victims’ accounts, the court was told. The money was siphoned through the holding accounts before it was withdrawn in cash. Korrine Bright, 23, of Sydenham Hill, Lewisham, South East London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and will be sentenced at the end of the trial. Mbaeri, of Hamilton Court, Ashby Place, Portsmouth, denies fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud. His seven co-defendants also deny the charges against them of aiding and abetting fraud. The trial continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
target: Manager accused of siphoning funds out of elderly customers' accounts .
  Hugo Mbaeri, 25, Portsmouth, allegedly passed details to fraudster gang .
  Court heard victims were vulnerable, four of nine targeted were in their 80s .
  Seven others also accused after their accounts were used to hold the funds .