Trio took more than £400,000 off vulnerable siblings

A family of fraudsters who "cynically abused" their position of trust to con a vulnerable brother and sister out of hundreds of thousands of pounds have been jailed.

Nottinghamshire Police said husband and wife Ahmed and Nadia Shah, as well as Nadia's daughter Aysha Shah, tricked a woman aged in her 80s into handing over her bank card then targeted her brother in his 70s after he was hospitalised.

The fraudsters received £411,836.98 in total from the two victims, who have died since, police said.

The trio were jailed at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday after entering guilty pleas.

DC Stephanie Wood said the Shah family's behaviour was "cruel" and added the force takes fraud and financial abuse "extremely seriously".

In 2014, Aysha Shah, 28, of Normanton Road, Derby, began working for a care agency in Nottingham which provided care for one of the victims at her home in Wollaton, police said.

Police said the victim was "wealthy but frail", with her brother being the only member of her family she was in contact with.

Shah introduced the woman to Ahmed and Nadia Shah, of Cockington Road, Nottingham, and the family gradually took over her care and finances, the force added.

From 2018 to 2019, police said large amounts of cash began to be withdrawn from the woman's bank accounts, with up to £500 taken out on successive days.

Police said when the woman's brother had a fall and was admitted to hospital in May 2019, the trio saw a further opportunity.

Nadia and Ahmed forged a will in the man's name, including a forged signature and an inked thumbprint, making themselves the executors and Aysha a beneficiary of it, the force added.

Investigations revealed the document was only created a week before the man died and not prior to his fall as it claimed.

Police said detectives believed the thumbprint was added because the Shahs were concerned the signature would be challenged – and this can only have been added after his death when they visited his body at the funeral home.

The man had two properties and additional investments worth more than £950,000. None went to his sister and instead ended up in the Shah family's bank accounts.

They used the funds to buy items and travelled to Pakistan where some of it was withdrawn in cash, police said.

Ahmed Shah, aged 47, was jailed for six years after admitting making a false will and two counts of theft.

Nadia Shah, aged 59, was jailed for six years after admitting making a false will and fraud by false representation.

Aysha Shah, 28, of Normanton Road, Derby, was jailed for one year and seven months after pleading guilty to acquiring criminal property.

DC Wood said: "Both our victims were ideal targets to be exploited and that is exactly what the Shah family did.

"The Shahs pretended to be friends of the woman while systematically stripping away her life savings and going on to target her brother.

"Their behaviour was cruel, betraying the trust of the first victim and taking advantage of the second victim's admission to hospital and death."

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