Man in hospital lost £17,000 to Chepstow fraudsters (From Free Press Series)

Man in hospital lost £17,000 to Chepstow fraudsters

11:40am Thursday 21st February 2013 in News

A MAN who offered to decorate a neighbour’s home while he was in hospital having toes amputated has admitted defrauding him by thousands of pounds.

Michael Hunt, 32, of Bulwark Road, Chepstow, admitted using the credit card of Michael Mallard to withdraw cash and buy goods, defrauding him of a total of £7,761.21.

His co-defendant Anthony Vidler, 27, also of Bulwark Road, Chepstow, also admitted defrauding Mr Mallard by using his account number to buy goods on sportsdirect.com and at Swarovski Crystal.

Hunt pleaded guilty at Newport Crown Court to two counts of fraud. The charges state that, between February 12 and March 22, he made a false representation to a bank by using a cash machine card in the name of Mr Mallard. Between February 12 and March 13 he also made a false representation to retailers by claiming he was an authorised user of Mr Mallard’s bank account.

Vidler also admitted two counts of fraud in that he made a false representation to sportsdirect.com on February 13 and to Swarovski Crystal on February 16 claiming to be an authorised user of Mr Mallard’s account.

Prosecuting barrister, David Thomas said Mr Mallard had given Hunt his card and pin number to buy materials after Hunt had offered to do some decorating while Mr Mallard was in hospital. A previous court hearing heard Mr Mallard was in hospital having toes amputated.

Mr Thomas said that in the region of £15,000 to £17,000 was reported to have gone missing from Mr Mallard’s account, although the additional missing money cannot be accounted for.

Both defendants were released on bail and will be sentenced on March 12.