Fake banker gets 5-yr jail term for fraud

NEW YORK, USA: A New Zealander posing as an international banker was jailed for a multi-million dollar fraud in the US, Australian IT reported today.

Shaun Gregory Morgan, 32, was sentenced to five years jail by Utah judge Dee Benson last week, after he admitted running a fake bank on the Internet.

Morgan used to offer huge amount as loans to needy people on the condition that they first sent him money as security.

He had claimed he was an executive of the London-based international bank First Mutual and had millions of dollars of credit available. But the fictional institution existed only on a website he created.

Morgan was called an "economic danger to the community" by a judge in Utah before he pleaded guilty. Since he did a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation prior to conviction, many charges dropped in exchange for his pleading guilty to one count of bank fraud.

Reports said that Morgan has been implicated in banking scam earlier also, although it is the first time he has been publicly convicted.

Morgan did a deal with the FBI that led to a string of. He also admitted attempting to cover his tracks with counterfeit cheques.