Shameless Uber driver who gambled away £153,000 of someone else’s cash after cloning their Coutts bank card is spared jail

An Uber driver has been spared jail after gambling away £153,000 from another man’s bank account.

Fezan Burki, 35, used a cloned Coutts bank card from Benjamin Fox to sign up with six different betting companies.

A card belonging to Mr Fox’s wife, Kerry, was also used in the fraud, the Old Bailey heard.

Burki, of St John’s Way, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, was caught with images of 15 other people’s bank cards, driving licences and passports after police seized his phones on March 17 last year.

Fezan Burki, 35, (pictured) used a cloned Coutts bank card from Benjamin Fox to sign up with six different betting companies

Burki hugs a family member as he walked free from court. His family whooped for joy as the judge passed sentence

He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and possessing articles for fraud at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 17 last year. He also claimed that the fraud was also partly to provide for his children.

However, the Uber driver managed to escape jail time due to mitigation because of mental health issues.

Defence counsel Lawrence Harris said his client was ‘out of his mind’ at the time due to the complex PTSD brought on by a knife attack at the hands of his brother-in-law in November 2018.

The judge considered for mitigation the fact Burki was suffering from complex PTSD from a knife attack

The attack left him needing 52 staples and a 12-inch scar which eventually led to the breakdown of his marriage

The knife attack was carried out by his brother-in-law in November 2018

The attack left him needing 52 staples and a 12-inch scar which eventually led to the breakdown of his marriage, the court heard.

Also, Mr Harris said the only victim in the case was Coutts as the bank was able to refund the total of £153,305.67 once it had completed an investigation.

Mr Harris said: ‘He took desperate, irrational, and unlawful steps to acquire money with the intention, in part, of providing for all of his children.

‘The use of fraudulent money via gambling to benefit his children is the best example of his irrationality… He was always going to be caught.

‘Coutts is a bank with highly sophisticated internal investigations systems. He was out of his mind at the time.’

Prosecutor Sonya Foxsmith said Mr Fox noticed dodgy transactions while abroad after his wife’s card had been cloned.

Police were alerted by the private bank, which is used by the rich and famous such as the late Queen.

They tracked down the phone numbers signed up to the betting companies and traced them to Burki who was then arrested at his mum’s home in Essex.

But Ms Foxsmith said there were ‘ongoing financial investigations’ by police and confiscation proceedings were likely as Coutts has been unable to recover the amount in full.

Ms Foxsmith said: ‘The bank was able to refund a sum of £134,000 but it’s not been recovered in full, therefore there’s a loss of £47,000 and there will be confiscation proceedings.

Burki was also ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement and to pay a victim surcharge

‘I can confirm the police are doing ongoing financial investigations.’

Burki sobbed after he left the dock while Judge Rebecca Trowler KC deliberated on her verdict last Thursday, January 18.

Judge Trowler said the fraud was sophisticated but considered Burki’s mental health arising from the traumatic stabbing strong enough mitigation to spare him jail time.

Handing him a suspended two-year sentence, she said: ‘I have considered whether it is necessary for the imprisonment to be immediate.

‘These are very serious offences. However, in light of the mitigation and the fact you present a low risk of reoffending, there is a strong prospect of rehabilitation.’

His family wailed with happiness from the public gallery as he walked free and left the Old Bailey.

He was also ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement and to pay a victim surcharge.