Leeds hairdressers' owner did not question why £100,000 of pensioner's stolen cash landed in his bank account

Yusuf Gahutu said two close friends and customers had asked to use his bank account prior to the cash being stolen from the pensioner. Personal emails involving her power of attorney had been hacked and the money siphoned into Gahutu’s account.

The 52-year-old was initially charged with fraud but denied any knowledge of the illegal transaction and did not receive any financial gain. He later admitted a lesser charge of obtaining wrongful credit.

But appearing at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Ray Singh made it clear that he was “sceptical” about Gahutu’s involvement.

He said: “I will sentence you on your basis, despite the suspicions of the police and the authorities that you were more heavily involved than to the charge to which you have been committed. The money landed in your bank account, you must have known something was wrong.

“Suddenly £100,000 lands, you could not be that stupid to not have not understood that it came from illegal sources. I’m sceptical on what you say. I do not accept there was no financial benefit to you. We all live in the real world. It’s not you simply doing a favour for somebody else.”

Prosecutor Austin Newman said that the elderly woman and her partner had moved into a care home in February 2017 due to their failing health. The elderly man sadly died in 2018, and left the six-figure sum to the woman to help pay her care-home fees.

The money came through to her bank account in November 2019, and emails between the woman’s friend, who had power of attorney, and the care home began over £95,270 owed for her her fees.

However, at some point the emails were hacked into, and the recipient bank details were altered with the money subsequently being diverted.

The elderly woman’s friend’s suspicions were only raised when she received WhatsApp messages, purporting to be from the care home’s manager. It was eventually reported to Action Fraud who then contacted West Yorkshire Police.

It was found that the cash was sent to Gahutu’s account, and that several large withdrawals had since been made including £1,000, £2,000, £12,000 and then £5,000. The remainder of the cash was still in the account and was quickly frozen. The missing cash was later reimbursed by the bank.

Gahutu, of Cowper Street, Chapeltown, voluntarily visited a police station after he returned from a lengthy spell in Africa, having been forced to remain out of the UK during the Covid pandemic.

Little mitigation was offered on his behalf by his barrister after Judge Singh said he would not jail him.

Instead, he gave him eight months’ jail, suspended for two years, with 180 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation days.

He warned Gahutu: “The only thing that keeps you out of prison is that a significant amount was left in your account and the police were able to freeze that. There was a serious risk of that money disappearing.”