A BANK worker from Huddersfield plotted with two others to steal £350,000, a court was told.

Mian Rashid, 31, was working at a branch of NatWest in Bolton when he got involved in the plot – led by a police officer, a court was told.

Rashid, 31, was said to have opened two fraudulent accounts at the bank.

He has gone on trial at Manchester Crown Court charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Rashid’s co-accused includes a serving police officer Fawad Ahmed, 30, who was said to have been the linchpin of a scam in which fake identities were used to open bank accounts which were then used to get loans.

Ahmed, of Bury Old Road, Prestwich, had previously worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland where the offences are alleged to have taken place.

Saalih Ahmed, 49, of Meerside Walk, Hulme, is alleged to have processed the bulk of the crooked applications while working for the RBS in Longsight.

Rashid, of Rashcliffe Hill Road, Lockwood, is alleged to have opened two fraudulent accounts for use in the fraud while working at Natwest – which is part of the RBS – in Bolton.

All three deny conspiracy to defraud.

They were allegedly linked to the missing cash by a paper trail as well as CCTV and witnesses.

The court was told that a week before his arrest, Fawad Ahmed showed his warrant card to a bank worker in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, before offering him £1,000 to open an account on a fake passport.

Prosecutor Lisa Roberts said Saalih Ahmed – not related to Fawad Ahmed – opened 42 accounts where the applicant used bogus details in a year.

Once the account had been opened using a fake passport and personal details, no further identification was needed to get tens of thousands of pounds in loans.

Within hours of the accounts opening, Saalih Ahmed would allegedly grant a loan on it.

The cash would quickly be withdrawn in sums of up to £5,000 a time and the overdraft facility stretched, said Miss Roberts.

Mohammed Nasir, 31, who is wanted by police, is alleged to have opened accounts using a string of identities with Saalih Ahmed’s help.

She is said to have opened two accounts for Mr Nasir in two different names within twenty minutes.

In a three-week period, he made ten visits to the bank – and was never served by anyone but her, the court heard.

The jury heard that the same address was also used six times in applications Saalih Ahmed processed, twice on successive days.

Fawad Ahmed is alleged to be the common link between the accused and was arrested after Saalih Ahmed was interviewed by the bank’s investigators.

Documents linking Fawad Ahmed to the fraud were found in his BMW – but he told police that he had lent the car out to others.

Saalih Ahmed said she has been made a ‘scapegoat’ for failings at the bank.

Rashid has declined to answer police questions.

The case continues.