Leytonstone News

Leytonstone fraudster tricked hotel into handing over guest’s belongings

Anwar fooled hotel staff into handing over someone else’s goods with a convincing sob story
By Victoria Munro

A Leytonstone woman who tricked hotel staff into handing over £80,000 worth of other people’s belongings has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Anisha Anwar, a 35-year-old from Harrow Road, phoned staff at a Hackney hotel on 8th October, convincing them she was a guest who had to check out urgently due to a family crisis.

Sympathetic hotel staff packed up a guest’s belongings, including luxury brand goods, and handed them over to a mini-cab Anwar booked, which transported the goods to an associate. 

The following morning, the guests returned to their now-empty room and reported the theft to the police.

Following Anwar’s guilty plea, Detective Sergeant Ian Cleghorn said that, while she had a known “history of committing fraud”, this latest scheme was “truly audacious”.

He said: “However, her inflated confidence proved to be her downfall, as the mobile phone she used to commit her crime was found where she was living.

“I would like to praise the work of my team throughout this investigation. The efforts taken to trace the cab and track the mobile show that we will use every method and technology available to us.”

Anwar pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court on 15th December last year and will be sentenced at the same court on 13th January.

The male accomplice who received the goods from the taxi driver has unfortunately not been found but the search continues.


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