Bank fraudster sent to prison

A FRAUDSTER has been jailed for 37 months after duping an Oldham bank out of more than £250,000.

Mohammed Tahir Ashraf (43), of Cheadle Hulme, tricked staff at the Oldham branch of NatWest bank out of the money after posing as a businessman and fraudulently accessing someone’s bank account.

He admitted two offences of conspiracy to defraud, committed in 2007, and was sentenced at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court.

Most of the money was paid by the bank via a money transfer agency in Manchester. The rest was handed over at the Yorkshire Street branch.