Two brothers accused of stealing more than $600,000 from an elderly man who suffers from dementia have been hit with a raft of fresh charges.
George Mensah, 22, and Jesse Mensah, 25, were arrested at a unit in Sydney‘s south-west in July after a lengthy investigation by the NSW State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad.
Police allege the siblings engaged in a campaign of cold-calling potential victims until they made contact with an 88-year-old man from Paddington in the city’s eastern suburbs.
The Mensahs allegedly posed as Commonwealth Bank staff in calls that lasted up to 90 minutes and convinced the man to grant them access to his online account and credit card.
Over the course of a year, they allegedly stripped the man of his life savings and spent more than $600,000 buying shares and transferring funds to themselves and others.
George Mensah was initially charged with two counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.
The Daily Mail can reveal he has now been charged with two further counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception and 14 counts of dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence.
He has also been charged with three counts of possessing identity information to commit an indictable offence.
Brothers George and Jesse Mensah, who are accused of stealing more than $600,000 from an elderly man who suffers from dementia have been hit with a raft of fresh charges. George Mensah is pictured
Daily Mail can reveal George Mensah (above) featured in an advertising campaign for Valour Sport, wearing uniforms Australian athletes donned at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Jesse Mensah was initially charged with dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime and failing to comply with a digital evidence access order direction.
He has now been charged with two further counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, as well as possessing an unauthorised pistol.
Jesse has also been charged with seven counts of dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence and six counts of possessing identity information for the same purpose.
George Mensah is a sprinter and model who, until his arrest, featured in an advertising campaign for Valour Sport, wearing uniforms Australian athletes donned at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and August.
Photographs of Mensah on Valour’s website were taken down after the Mail made inquiries about him being used to promote the company’s role in outfitting team members for the Games.
‘Valour Sport was unaware of the accusations against Mr George Mensah,’ the company said in a statement.
‘Imagery of Mr George Mensah has been removed from all campaigns. The charges are a matter for Mr George Mensah and NSW Police.’
George Mensah is studying criminology at university, while his older brother Jesse is a youth worker.
Brothers George Mensah (above) and Jesse Mensah were arrested at a unit in Sydney’s south-west in July after an investigation by the State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad
Solicitor Abdul Saddik previously told the Mail the Mensahs would be defending the charges, while police said at the time investigations were ongoing and they were looking for two other alleged offenders.
‘It is our view that there is a much bigger fraud in the background happening that is beyond the scope of our clients,’ Mr Saddik said.
‘We say that’s why the police say this is an ongoing investigation and they’re looking for at least two more people that benefited from the fraud.’
A third man, 26-year-old Saidu Samura, was arrested on July 16 and charged with knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime in relation to the alleged scam.
Police allege Samura assisted in trading $32,000 of shares from the elderly man’s money to purchase products online.
Strike Force Borlase was established by the Financial Crimes Squad in 2025 to investigate the Mensah brothers.
Detectives executed a search warrant on a unit at Yagoona about 6.10am on July 1 and arrested the pair with the assistance of officers from the Southwest Metropolitan Regional Enforcement Squad.
Commander of the Financial Crimes Squad, Detective Superintendent Gordan Arbinja, described the alleged actions of the Mensahs as ‘an appalling betrayal of a vulnerable member of our community’.
Police allege George and Jesse Mensah (above) engaged in a campaign of cold-calling potential victims until they made contact with an 88-year-old man from Paddington
‘I consider targeting vulnerable people the apex of offending,’ Detective Superintendent Arbinja said.
‘They only interacted [with] him over the phone and he was convinced that he was talking to his own banking people.
‘They [allegedly] acted on his vulnerabilities but I’m convinced this was targeted and socially engineered towards the victim.
‘This man was [allegedly] completely exploited and stripped of all his wealth.’
Detective Superintendent Arbinja commended the Commonwealth Bank for reimbursing every dollar the elderly man had lost.
Mr Saddik told the Mail his clients had ‘unblemished records’ and that what police were alleging against them ‘just doesn’t fit in’.
‘These are two good blokes,’ he said. ‘I appreciate that on its face right now they don’t seem like very good blokes.
‘Scamming an 88-year-old man of his entire life savings at the end of his life while he’s suffering through dementia is a sickening act but there’s always another side to a story and there definitely is in this case.’
The Mensahs and Samura were granted bail and are next due to appear at Burwood Local Court on November 25.
Strike Force Borlase’s inquiries are ongoing.
