A 'DESPICABLE' fraudster who duped an Ayrshire pensioner out of £50,000 as part of a 'particularly cruel' Scotland-wide scam has been jailed for 13-and-a-half years.

Derek Moore also impersonated a police officer to get his hands on two shotguns which were lawfully held by one of the victims of the bank scam he perpetrated against pensioners.

A judge told Moore, 42, at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday: "The frauds which you perpetrated on elderly and vulnerable people were particularly cruel."

Victims, who were conned out of more than a quarter-of-a-million pounds, were persuaded that frauds were being carried out at bank branches and Moore was an investigator. In some cases their bank cards were taken from them.

In one incident, a 70-year-old man in the South Ayrshire village of Dundonald was contacted by the conman and persuaded to make transactions transferring £50k out of his account.

Moore's former girlfriend, Julie McQuade, 31, of Cambuslang, was jailed for 30 months after she was involved in defrauding a woman on Shetland.

READ MORE: Man and woman plead guilty in Ayr to conning OAPs out of £250k across Scotland

Defence counsel Graham Robertson, for Moore, said he previously worked as a chef, but suffered ill health in recent years.

He said there was no suggestion that Moore was the mastermind behind the criminal scheme and appeared to have been "very much a foot soldier".

He said that what brought Moore to court were matters that could be described as "pretty despicable".

Kelly Duling, counsel for McQuade, maintained that she was a vulnerable person who had a traumatic background.

The pair originally stood trial at Ayr Sheriff Court and pleaded guilty during the proceedings.

The sheriff, who can impose a maximum term of five years' imprisonment, sent the case to the High Court because of its greater sentencing powers.

Lord Young said: "This was a highly sophisticated operation which involved significant levels of planning and deception."

The judge said that given there was deliberate targeting of vulnerable people for a planned fraud, culpability was high.

READ MORE: Man who scammed OAPs in Ayrshire and elsewhere faces years behind bars

More than £280,000 was obtained or attempted to be obtained in the scam which occurred between August 2021 and February 2022 and took place in Ayrshire, Dundee, Renfrewshire, Musselburgh, East Lothian and Shetland.

Moore, formerly of Chapel Street, Rutherglen, earlier admitted five charges of fraud committed while acting with others.

He also pleaded guilty to two charges of illegal possession of shotguns and a further offence of being concerned in the supply of heroin.

He took possession of two of the guns masquerading as a police officer after it was discovered one of the fraud victims legally owned the weapons. It was done under the pretence that he was a police constable and had the authority to seize the firearms.

An 83-year-old woman was called by Moore pretending to be from her bank fraud team and she went to a bank branch in Johnstone to withdraw £15,000, before heading to the town's railway station to hand the cash over to him. She was also induced to transfer a further £20k to another bank account.

Moore contacted one couple by phone and told the woman he was from her bank fraud team. He got them to attend at a luxury jeweller in Dundee to buy a watch before travelling to Glasgow to hand over the timepiece to him.

He also induced them to hand over the man's bank cards and purchased a bracelet using a card and pin number. He also used them and the man's driving licence in an attempt to get money from a Glasgow bank branch.

The victims were also persuaded to attend a bank in Perth and transfer £20k to another account.

An 80-year-old woman also attended a bank branch in Musselburgh High Street after being contacted by the fake investigator and transferred £15k to an account in the name of Priya Seta. Moore also got her bank cards, account numbers and pin numbers and withdrew £1,500 and attempted to withdraw a further £3,600.

An 85-year-old woman was also targeted in the scam and more than £80,000 was extracted from her after she attended bank branches in Lerwick to make transfers of money and online banking was set up in her name.

Police recovered heroin worth almost £2,000 and a further firearm at Moore's flat in Rutherglen on February 18, 2022.