Romance fraudster who conned women on Tinder and Bumble out of thousands by pretending to be wealthy surgeon faces jail for THIRD time after being caught again
- In May 2015 Amir Tofangsazan was jailed for seven years and nine months
- In 2018, while in an open prison, the romance fraudster obtained a mobile phone
- He was jailed for a further three years having contacted further victims
- Three days after his release in 2019, he began targeting more victims
- This week, he admitted seven further offences and was remanded in custody
Amir Tofangsazan, 33, pictured, will be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on January 21 having admitted targeting vulnerable women in a romance fraud string
A serial romance fraudster is backing in prison having been caught contacting vulnerable women online while on conditional release from prison.
Amir Tofangsazan, 33, was jailed for seven years and nine months in prison in May 2015 for 15 counts of fraud having pretended to be a doctor or a barrister to con thousands of pounds of cash from women he contacted through dating apps and websites.
Police arrested Tofangazan after it was discovered he was breaching the terms of a criminal behaviour order which banned him from using apps such as Tinder and Bumble.
Appearing in custody at Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday, Tofangazan admitted six counts of breaching the CBO.
The court heard that during 2018, while in an open prison, Torangazan obtained a mobile phone and resumed his scam by contacting new victims.
Police were alerted and he was arrested and jailed for a further three years at Lewes Crown Court.
As well as prison, Tofangsazan was prohibited from using online dating services and had to supply his mobile phone details to police for a period of ten years.
The serial fraudster was released from jail on November 4, 2019 and three days later he contacted two women – who previously gave evidence against him – calling himself Jason.
On December 10, 2019, he used a dating app to contact a women he had previously been in a relationship who knew him as Matt Fleming.
Investigating officers discovered two further dating profiles on different sites.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Tofangsazan used the mobile phone that he had registered with police in order to communicate with more women. He again used an alias name and images that he had used to set up dating profiles in the past.’
Tofangsazan was arrested on July 15 by officers from the Central Specialist Crime, Central Orders team on suspicion of breaching the terms of his CBO and fraud.
Tofangsazan, pictured here arriving at Lewes Crown Court, right, had previously been jailed for seven years and nine months and three years following convictions in 2015 and 2018. He has now been remanded in custody by Wood Green Crown Court pending sentencing in January 2021
He was charged with seven offences the following day, including breaching his CBO by accessing Tinder, Bumble, mobile phone ownership and ownership of a laptop.
He was also charged with failing to notify police of a change of address.
Tofangasazan was remanded in custody and initially denied all counts. However, when he appeared at Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty.
He was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on January 12.
Detective Constable Lisa Hilliard, who investigated the fraudster said: ‘Tofangsazan is a serial offender. He has continually breached the conditions of his release licence and the Criminal Behaviour Order that has been put in place in an effort to prevent this type of activity.
Tofangsazan, pictured, began targeting his most recent victims three days after being released from jail in February 2019
‘He has proven repeatedly that he cannot be trusted to cease his callous criminal activities, something he will have sufficient time to ponder as he serves yet another sentence.
‘I applaud the victims in all of the cases relating to Tofangsazan for coming forward, their actions have ensured that he will not have the opportunity to lie his way into other women’s lives or bank accounts for some time to come.
‘Fraudsters of this type work very hard at their cover stories, they are incredibly convincing and completely without conscience. They also rely heavily on the victim’s trusting good nature and the fact that they may be too embarrassed to report them.
‘Please don’t be embarrassed, if only to warn other unsuspecting victims, please do speak to police.’