A young mother who posted ‘mission complete’ on her Snapchat story after she scammed a 78-year-old professor out of more than £300,000 worth of century-old jewellery has been jailed.
Leonnie Charles, 23, was part of a criminal gang which targeted ‘vulnerable’ pensioners by pretending to be police officers and asking them to hand over their hard-earned cash and valuable goods.
The mother-of-one was tasked with visiting the homes of the elderly victims, who were said to be from a generation that had more ‘respect’ for authorities, to physically collect their money and family heirlooms.
The court heard the most serious scam related to a red suitcase containing expensive and sentimental family jewellery which belonged to an elderly professor.
After collecting the package, Charles used social media to boast about collecting the goods, which had been in the academic’s family for four generations.
He described feeling as though he has been ‘robbed of a connection’ to his relatives and was forced to consider returning to work after the theft to ‘recuperate’ the enormous financial loss.
In total, the criminal gang stole more than £416,000 from 27 victims who had an average age of 78.
Now, Charles has been handed a 32-month custodial sentence after a sentencing hearing at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire.
Leonnie Charles, 23, was part of a criminal gang which targeted ‘vulnerable’ pensioners by pretending to be police officers
The mother-of-one was tasked with visiting the homes of the elderly victims, who were said to be from a generation that had more ‘respect’ for authorities, to physically collect their money and family heirlooms
Charles would then return to the car and pass the money and goods over to gang leader Faris Kayani, who would give her £100 in cash
Prosecuting, Gary Venturi, said between February and September 2021 the gang attempted to scam at least 42 people with the oldest being 90 and the youngest aged 57.
They managed to steal money and expensive jewellery from 27 victims living in Hampshire, London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex.
Members of the gang would follow a script and call victims while pretending to be a police officer and saying there had been a problem at the bank.
The victims were told to call 999 from their phone to verify the identity of the caller, but the line was intentionally kept open by the scammer and the call was not disconnected.
The victims then believed they had made a new call and that they were speaking to a legitimate officer, however they were still speaking with the scammer.
They were then asked to assist a police investigation and to withdraw money or hand over goods so they could be taken for fingerprint analysis.
Mr Venturi said Charles had been involved in the ‘courier’ part of the scam which involved collecting cash and jewellery from ten of the 27 victims.
The then 19-year-old would be dropped over to the victims’ houses and they would hand over an envelope or package.
Pictured Luc Williams, 24, who was one of the fraudsters jailed
Saqib Mahmood, 28, was another of the accomplices
Charles would then return to the car and pass the money over to gang leader Faris Kayani, who would give her £100 in cash.
The court heard the most serious scam involved an academic, named only as Professor Bhansali.
Charles collected a red suitcase from his home which contained expensive items of jewellery.
Afterwards, she took a picture of the case and posted it with the caption ‘mission complete’ on her story.
In a victim impact statement, the professor said: ‘The collection of jewellery spanned four generation.
‘Some of it was over 100 years old with a value of about £300,000.’
He told the court he had been ‘robbed of a connection’ to his family and had suffered health problems as a result of ‘considerable anxiety’ caused by the event ever since.
Professor Bhansali said he considered going back to work to ‘try and recuperate the loss’ and said he felt as though he had been ‘riding a wave of unhappiness’.
Another 85-year-old pensioner said she felt ‘paralysed’ when she realised the £4,200 taken from her was part of a scam.
‘I come from an era where this sort of thing just didn’t happen,’ she said.
‘I am a pensioner, I do not have money spare to be able to lose it to scams.’
She said the money stolen had been put aside to pay for her own funeral.
The court heard of conversations Charles had with gang leader Kayani, 30, after her arrest in June 2021.
It was heard she asked for a new laptop, commenting: ‘As a bredrin, I’m asking for help.’
Kayani told the then 19-year-old: ‘If you get bagged you get bagged. You should know the number one rule, never keep P’s in your yard.’
Michael Harrison, mitigating, said a charity has since provided Charles with a two-bedroom flat which she will lose if she goes to prison.
He said: ‘For her to go into custody now at this stage is just going to have a devastating impact on her life.
‘The guidelines are just that and there must be a more constructive way, in my submission, in dealing with her today.’
Charles pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Judge Rufus Taylor sentenced her to 32 months in prison.
He said sentencing the mother is one of the ‘worst’ exercises due to the ‘obvious effect it’s going to have on her daughter’.
‘But, what she did is pretty awful,’ he added.
‘It’s clear that the gang targeted a proportion of the population who were the most vulnerable and who were also from a generation who trust and respect the police to a greater degree than younger generations.
‘I have been thinking about this case for about six months because the last thing I want to do is deprive your daughter and you, but I’m afraid I have no option.’
Kayani was jailed at Salisbury Crown Court for five years and six months on Thursday after pleading guilty to fraud.
His accomplices – Saqib Mahmood, 28, Luc Williams, 24 – were jailed for three years and seven months each after admitting the same offence.
