Scammer’s failed bid to swindle Mansfield shopkeeper with £100K of ‘play money’
A “wash wash” scammer failed to fleece a Mansfield shopkeeper using £100,000 of "play money" and the promise of a process to make the fake cash real, a court has heard.
Dumingo Chaleka contacted his victim after spotting an online advert to sell the Fresh Shop, on Midworth Street, on November 17, last year, said Alexander Staddon, prosecuting.
Chaleka offered £100,000 in bank notes from China, printed with the word "fake," and asked his intended victim for £10,000 in "real" money.
But when Chaleka returned the next day with a large quantity of the fake £50 notes and chemicals to “wash” them, police officers were waiting for him.
Ryan Higginbotham, mitigating, said: “The intended victim was able to recognise immediately that this was a scam of sorts.”
He said Chaleka used play money, adding, “it wasn't designed to look realistic.”
He said the defendant was given the products that could be used in the scam by a man who expected a cut of any profits and “there was a degree of exploitation.”
“This isn't a pattern of offending,” he said. “Custody would have a significant impact on his dependents.
“He describes having learned a very serious lesson. He has enrolled on a mechanics course and is volunteering in the community.”
Chaleka, aged 51, of Parkfield Road, Bradford, admitted fraud by false representation when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on June 3.
On Tuesday, he received 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 80 hours of unpaid work and six rehabilitation days.
He was ordered to pay £272 in court costs.