TWO men who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to larceny by trick, after conning a woman of $250,000 in cash, are to be sentenced on April 27.

The men, Aaron Liking and Colin Johnson, both 47, appeared before RM Judith Pusey in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate's Court.

The court was told Tuesday that earlier this month both men approached a woman and told her that they had recently returned to the island, and that they had been conned of $650,000. The men, the court heard, asked the woman to allow them to lodge their remaining money into her bank account for safekeeping. Both men, according to the prosecution, further told the woman that before they deposited the money into her account, they needed to see proof that she owned an account. To this effect, the woman subsequently withdrew $250,000 from her account to show to Liking and Johnson, who took the money from the woman and ran off. The woman then made a report to the police.

Liking and Johnson were picked up by the police along the Mandela Highway some time after the report was made.

Commenting on the allegations of the case, RM Pusey said: "There is a very old story about a fool and his money, but I'll not get into that," which left most of the persons in the courtroom laughing.

Both men also admitted to having run afoul of the law in the past. Liking said he had been jailed in the past for shop breaking and larceny, while Johnson said he was previously convicted of two offences in the past, but he failed to name the charges.

To be certain of the number of previous convictions that both men had, Pusey ordered that the sentencing be set for April 27 when she would examine their criminal records. Both men were remanded into custody until then.

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