PhD student conned out of more than £15,000 by waiter at Shilam

A PhD student at Aberystwyth was conned out of over £15,000 after being duped into believing he was buying the restaurant next to the train station.

Ronald Rodrigues, who was a waiter and front of house manager at Shilam, conned Mohamed Rizwan, a PhD student, out of £15,500.

Mohamed was told the pair of them could buy Shilam restaurant in a joint partnership.

Mohamed borrowed money from his wife and also sold a property in Pakistan to raise the funds. Con-man Ronald provided false documentation stating Shilam could be bought for £180,000 despite it not even being for sale.

Mohamed describes Ronald as somebody he trusted and a “well-wisher”.

During the hearing in Swansea Crown Court, Judge Peter Heywood stated:

“Students in Aberystwyth are obviously keen on curry.”

He added: “This was a mean and protracted fraud that involved a degree of planning.”

Mohamed sent up to a total of £15,500 before suspecting anything and contacting the owner of Shilam, who revealed the restaurant was not up for sale.

The police have frozen Ronald’s bank accounts meaning Mohamed got £10,115 of his money back straight away with the remaining £5,385 to be paid through weekly instalments of £100.

Waiter and con-man, Ronald, has been jailed for 6 months, suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Mohamed wished to open and run his own business but is now left working as a cleaning contractor, despite having a PhD.