Mbaeri , of Hamilton Court , Ashby Place , Portsmouth , denies fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud . A Nationwide branch manager conned elderly customers out of their life savings by setting up bogus standing orders for hundreds of thousands of pounds . Hugo Mbaeri , 25 , from Portsmouth allegedly handed over customer names , account details and signatures to a gang of fraudsters while he was working at Nationwide Building Society , a court heard . The alleged ringleader of the scheme , Olawabiyi Ayanwale , who is not before the court , set up standing orders by impersonating the victims , it is said . Mbaeri is on trial for fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud at the Old Bailey . He is in the dock alongside seven others who are accused of using their accounts to siphon the funds away . Abiola Balogun , 22 , Gideon Boateng , 19 , Tevin Campbell , 20 , Joshua Clark , 20 , Rebecca Jack , 21 , Patrick Reddington , 20 , and Christiana Tella , 19 , were allegedly paid around £300 each for letting the fraudsters use their bank accounts . Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay described the scam as a ‘ nasty little fraud ’ that ‘ deliberately targeted elderly people with the aim of clearing them out of their life savings ’ . ‘ Hugo Mbaeri is the inside man in this fraud and the remaining defendants in the dock allowed their accounts to be used for the stolen money to be passed through . ‘ It wasn ’ t a particularly sophisticated fraud but it ’ s a fraud which , were it not detected , would have netted the fraudsters hundreds of thousands of pounds and caused a loss in life savings to the victims . ‘ The set-up was quite straight forward - standing orders were set up from these elderly people ’ s accounts to withdraw money . That ’ s it , it ’ s as simple as that . Mbaeri used the bank ’ s computer system to access nine customers ’ details and signatures which he sold on to the fraudsters , the court was told . He worked as a cashier at the Fareham branch in Hampshire until February 2013 when he was promoted to branch manager in Gosport , Hampshire . The fraud was allegedly carried out from May 2012 to May 2013 and many of the victims were elderly or vulnerable , four were in their 80s and another three were over 65 . ‘ We say Mr Mbaeri looked up those people ’ s details for a dishonest purpose , not because they came into the branch or were making a genuine enquiry , ’ Mr Polnay said . Mbaeri is on trial for fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud at the Old Bailey ( pictured ) . He is in the dock alongside seven others who are accused of using their accounts to siphon the funds away . ‘ They were older people , it ’ s not just a random nine accounts. ’ He added : ‘ The records show Mr Mbaeri and not anybody else was the one person who accessed all the signature details for all the people who were victims of the fraud . ‘ The information was used to set up false standing orders by impersonating those people . ‘ Undoubtedly there were other people involved in the fraud as well who recruited people to allow their accounts to be used in the fraud . ‘ There was an agreement to impersonate Nationwide customers , Olawabiyi Ayanwale was the ringleader and a part of that plan was Mr Mbaeri . ‘ He agreed that the signatures and details he obtained would be put to that use. ’ Standing orders for around £2,500 were set up from each of the victims ’ accounts , the court was told . The money was siphoned through the holding accounts before it was withdrawn in cash . Korrine Bright , 23 , of Sydenham Hill , Lewisham , South East London , pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and will be sentenced at the end of the trial . Mbaeri , of Hamilton Court , Ashby Place , Portsmouth , denies fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud . His seven co-defendants also deny the charges against them of aiding and abetting fraud . The trial continues . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article .
Manager accused of siphoning funds out of elderly customers ' accounts . Hugo Mbaeri , 25 , Portsmouth , allegedly passed details to fraudster gang . Court heard victims were vulnerable , four of Seven targeted were in their 80s . nine others also accused after their accounts were used to hold the funds .