Jailed for swindling elderly tenants

A Cumbernauld man who swindled two elderly tenants out of thousands of pounds while working for a housing association has been jailed.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Aug 2018, 16:05 BST
Updated 17th Aug 2018, 16:14 BST

Jamie Ratcliffe (25) used his position to obtain personal information and a bank card which allowed him to steal from the two women aged 69 and 92.

He fraudulently set up online bank accounts in their names, transferred funds from their account into his, and between February 1 and March 27 of this year stole over £51,000.

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His crimes came to light when each of the women made contact with their banks. One was told there was no money in her account, with the other being made aware of several high value withdrawals of which she had no knowledge.

At an earlier hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court Ratcliffe admitted committing the offences - he has now been jailed for 16 months.

Moira Orr, Procurator Fiscal for Glasgow, said: “As a housing officer, Jamie Ratcliffe’s primary role was to assist those in need.

“Instead of doing so he abused that position in the most dreadful way and stole large sums of money from his vulnerable victims.

“Crimes of this nature are treated extremely seriously and anyone who believes they have evidence of such offences should have the confidence to come forward and report it to the police.”