FRAUDSTER WHO USED MAHREZ CARD JAILED
A fraudster who splurged more than £175,000 on a bank card belonging to Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez has been jailed for eight years and three months.
Sharif Mohamed, 32, spent more than a month living the high life partying in Ibiza, gambling and staying in luxury hotels in London.
Mahrez, 30, who earns around £200,000 a week, failed to notice the spending spree for five weeks before reporting the transactions.
Forklift truck driver Mohamed admitted one count of fraud at Snaresbrook Crown Court last month. Today he was sentenced to 44 months behind bars at the same court.
The fraud, totalling £175,830, took place in 2017 while Mahrez was playing for Leicester City. A caller posing as the Algerian international phoned Barclays bank to order a new card in his name.
Mohamed later claimed to police that he had been working on behalf of crooked bank staff but offered no evidence to back up his allegation.
He travelled from his home in East London to Leicester to withdraw cash from ATMs to avoid raising suspicion. Mohamed went on to burn through £20,000 on partying and designer clothes during a holiday in Ibiza.
Defending, Daniel Higgins, said: “One of the difficulties is that this was during a period of his life when he was drinking and taking drugs and his ability to recall in detail is rather limited.”
