Fraudsters. Steal £58k. Avoid jail.

A fraudster who stole more than £58,000 from 13 unsuspecting bank customers has been let off with a suspended sentence.

David Albert, 45, used real and fake ID documents to play the part of ‘a large number of white men born in the mid-1970s’ at branches of Nationwide and NatWest.

Albert, who has 30 previous convictions for 55 offences, many for dishonesty, was handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years at Inner London Crown Court.

Judge Freya Newbery said: ‘Over really quite a long period of two and a half years or so between 2016 and 2019, you were involved in what was undoubtably a wide and sophisticated fraud.

‘You fitted the profile of a large number of white men born in the mid 70s, so you were used for those.

‘You would go into the bank, that was your job, to facilitate the fraud. Within the bank you would use a mixture of bank cards.

‘It’s a sophisticated fraud but your part wasn’t that sophisticated. You’d use genuine bank cards and, where possible, fraudulent ID cards that go with that.

‘There were numerous face-to-face encounters. You would either take out money or cause transfers to other accounts.

‘The full amount over that period was just over £58,000.

‘You didn’t necessarily get the benefit of that. You were doing this because you had become addicted to class A drugs, and accepted payment in class A drugs.

But the judge commended Albert for being a ‘peer mentor’ in prison over the last 22 weeks, which he spent in custody, saying: ‘There’s nothing like trying to help others.’

She said: ‘You are remorseful. You have a lot of self-insight. You are candidly able to say you were just thinking about the drugs.

‘You’ve been taking very positive steps within prison. You are now a peer mentor within prison. There’s nothing like trying to help others to come on to be, as you want to be, a more useful and positive member of society.

‘Your sister has offered you a home. Your partner is here to support you today. You would like to be a positive influence for your 12-year-old daughter.

‘You have been on remand for a long time. I must pass the shortest sentence that I can.

‘You will be put on a drug rehabilitation programme for six months. It’s quite onerous and requires testing.

‘You’ll also have to see me for a review on March 30. We’ll have a look at your report. Obviously, I’ll want to see there are positive steps taken by you and you’re testing negative for class A drugs.

‘If you commit another offence in the next two years I’m reserving all breaches to me. There will be nobody more disappointed than me to see you in that dock.’

Albert nodded while the judge handed down his sentence while his partner, who had been pacing in the public gallery, beamed widely.

Albert, of Hutton, Brentwood, Essex, admitted three counts of fraud and eight of possessing fake documents with intend to defraud.