An Ipswich woman in her 70s was allegedly conned out of more than £40,000 in a confidence fraud, a court heard.

The victim was allegedly contacted by a man who said he was Detective Constable Jack Meadows from Scotland Yard and that he was investigating fraud on her bank accounts, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

Following a number of telephone conversations with the man the victim was allegedly persuaded to withdraw £4,675 from two accounts and deposit it into an account belonging to Helal Uddin, said Daniel Taylor, prosecuting.

The man pretending to be Det Con Meadows continued to contact the woman and persuaded her to withdraw a further £37,000 and to hand it over in a pre-arranged pick up.

Mr Taylor said: “This was under the pretence that the money would be held securely by Scotland Yard until the end of their investigation.

“This was a series of lies and she fell hook, line and sinker.

“The male wasn’t a police officer and once she handed over all the money she heard nothing more from him.”

The court heard that two days after the victim deposited the £4,675 in Uddin’s bank account, he withdrew the money in two separate £2,000 transactions, 30 minutes apart and with two different cashiers.

“It was done like this to avoid undue attention and to circumvent the bank’s fraud checks,” alleged Mr Taylor.

The following day Uddin’s bank account was closed with a balance of £675 and was held in suspense until October 15 when Uddin allegedly withdrew the money.

Mr Taylor said it wasn’t suggested Uddin was the man pretending to be the police officer or that he had collected the money from the victim.

Uddin, 49 and of Bow Road in London, denies possessing criminal property in June 2015.

The court heard Uddin accepted that the account the £4,675 was paid into belonged to him.

He claimed he had been approached by a man he knew as Hussain who claimed he could help him get a loan to fund his daughter’s wedding.

The man subsequently told him the loan had been approved and the money was paid into his account.

Uddin said no repayment terms were discussed and when he returned from his daughter’s wedding he unsuccessfully tried to contact Hussain and found his account had been closed.

He denies acting fraudulently.

The trial continues.