A recidivist fraudster who impersonates police before stealing credit cards has been jailed after fleecing nearly $10,000 from his unsuspecting victims. Jason Pope, 40, of Auckland, was this afternoon jailed for 4 years and 9 months on a total of 56 charges from offending in Hamilton and Te Awamutu during 2015. Pope’s ruse was similar for each of his eight victims – he dressed in blue and would be clutching a folder with “police” written on the front of it before talking his way into their homes by saying there had been burglaries in the area. He would then steal personal belongings – including wallets, purses, cellphones – and then call the victims back purporting to be police saying they had arrested the burglars. He would then coax PIN numbers from the victims and go on a spending spree. All up, Pope spent $9543.90 belonging to rest home residents, including from Hamilton’s Hilda Ross Retirement Village. In sentencing him to prison, Judge Spear said Pope’s conduct was that of a classic conman.
