A SERIAL confidence trickster who fleeced banks out of tens of thousands of pounds has been warned by a judge at Bradford Crown Court that he is facing a prison sentence.

Ian Milnthorpe, who has served a previous jail term for similar offending, posed as company and university bosses when he struck 16 times, including twice in the Bradford district.

Milnthorpe, 48, purported to be Adrian Aslett, a director of Total Tensions Solutions Ltd, when he committed offences in Shipley on April 9 and 10, 2015.

He pretended he was lawfully entitled to conduct transactions with the company's bank account in a course of dishonesty that defrauded banks of large sums of money.

Milnthorpe, of Paradise Fields, Pontefract, pleaded guilty yesterday to all 16 counts of fraud alleged against him.

The charges spanned a period between December 8, 2014, and April, 2015, and covered an area including Rochdale, Wakefield and Leeds.

Prosecutor Howard Shaw said Milnthorpe had a criminal record for fraud.

Judge Colin Burn adjourned the case until January 26 for a full probation report.

Granting Milnthorpe bail, he told him: "I cannot make any promises at all. All sentencing options are open and a custodial sentence is highly likely."

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