Preston dementia fraudster who fleeced vulnerable elderly couple out of their home could be slapped with serious crime order

Serial fraudster Syed Arfat Bukhari, 39, was jailed for seven years and 11 months after admitting defrauding hundreds of thousands of pounds from an ex-Merchant Navy man and his wife of 40 years.

The Fulwood couple, who are in their 80s and have four children between them, had worked all their lives and saved to be comfortable in their retirement.

But Bukhari, of Deepdale Avenue, Withington, Manchester, eventually fleeced them out of £350,000 during a prolonged fraud during which he cynically befriended them.

Due to the progression of the couple’s illness, investigators still aren’t sure how Bukhari tricked his way into their lives.

He emptied the couple’s accounts, made loan applications in their name and had mail and landline calls redirected.

SCPOs place various restrictions on the defendants, such as limiting their use of communication devices, and breaching it is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

(proceeding)

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