Ion Anghel jailed for £23,000 Grantham NatWest distraction theft
A man who stole £23,000 from a 93-year-old after taking his card at a Lincolnshire cash machine has been jailed for three years.
Ion Anghel, 48, of Sherwood Street, Wolverhampton, admitted the theft at an earlier hearing at Lincoln Crown Court.
The victim had his card stolen after being distracted by three men while withdrawing cash from a NatWest bank in Grantham on 14 December.
The man's details were later used to transfer the money from his account.
Sentencing Anghel, Judge Simon Hirst told him: "You deliberately targeted a vulnerable victim. You found the most vulnerable person you could in Grantham that day.
"This was a sophisticated offence. The way you acted as a team must inevitably mean you and your associates practiced what you were going to do."
Lincolnshire Police said "inquiries were ongoing in relation to any other individuals suspected of being involved."
Det Insp Simon Bromiley said it was a targeted crime committed against a vulnerable war veteran.
He said: "He [the victim] is a very proud man, who has shown a great deal of courage through out.
"It is sickening that a man who has conducted himself so well throughout his life should be subjected to such a callous and wicked crime," he added.
Anghel, who is originally from Romania, has convictions for similar offences in both Italy and Denmark, police said.
There is also an arrest warrant in place for him in France.