A 19-year-old is due to appear in court for reportedly impersonating a police officer and taking a four-figure sum of cash from an 88-year-old woman.

Asad Arshad, of Ashbourne Avenue, Ilford, is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, June 3, to answer a charge of fraud by false representation.

Police arrested a man on January 9 this year after they received a call about suspicious behaviour outside the home of an 88-year-old woman in Maldon.

The woman told officers she handed over a four-figure sum of cash after receiving a call from a man claiming to be a police officer.

The Essex Police investigation was carried out with assistance from Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre.