Ian Milnthorpe, 48, posed as a company director to target branches of HSBC

Bradford Crown Court was told that Ian Milnthorpe used fake driving licences and claimed to be the company director of a number of firms to trick staff at HSBC branches in Yorkshire, the Midlands and Lancashire into transferring cash.

Prosecutor Howard Shaw said that between December 2014 and April 2015, Milnthorpe oversaw the transfer of £72,109 into various bank accounts.

The 48-year-old was arrested on April 10, 2015, after suspicious staff at HSBC in Shipley called police when he claimed to be Adrian Aslett, a director of Total Tension Solutions Ltd.

Mr Shaw said Milnthorpe, of no fixed address, made 16 attempts to get banks to transfer money, and was successful ten times. He left fake driving licences, featuring his picture, behind at unsuccessful jobs. Mr Shaw said Milnthorpe was “not the brains of the operation”, but that it was a sophisticated method of offending.

He added: “He is the money mule.”

Chloe Fairley, for Milnthorpe, who admitted 16 counts of fraud, said: “He was the gopher at the end of the line who took the risk.

“He was scared of the individuals who were asking him to get involved. These men have involved him in the past.”

She said Milnthorpe was receiving help from the Open Doors project for vulnerable adults. The court heard that Milnthorpe had previously been in prison for fraud.

Judge Colin Burn gave Milnthorpe a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He said: “Your record paints a picture of someone who is quite a persistent fraudster. I am afraid nothing that I have heard today tends to make me change that view. One of the factors I am bound to take into account is that there was no one particular named individual who had their savings destroyed or stolen by you and others involved in this.”

Milnthorpe was also given a six-month, 9pm to 7am curfew, and a 15-day rehabilitation order.

HSBC reimbursed the companies affected, but was left £45,885 out of pocket, the court heard.