A SERIAL fraudster targeted an Accrington bank when he tried to obtain information about a company’s account.

Blackburn magistrates heard Raymond George Hill was recognised as being on a ‘rogues gallery’ when he went into the Yorkshire Bank and made inquiries about the finances of Fagan and Whalley.

And the court heard a week later Hill went into branches of the same bank in Blackpool and made inquiries about another company’s account.

Hill, 62, of Stockport Road, Hyde, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud by falsely representing that he was a company director to access a bank account.

He was fined £110 with £100 costs after the court heard he was being recalled to prison because the offences put him in breach of prison licence. Parveen Akhtar, prosecuting, described Hill as a prolific offender who had over 100 convictions for fraud.

Hill told police he had been involved in a high stakes gambling syndicate and owed members a large amount of money.

Laura Heywood, defending, said the syndicate had £100,000 in the bank in the name of a member who died.

Hill was a trustee but because of his previous record the police ruled this was the proceeds of crime.