A computer programmer from Highgate has appeared in court charged with using stolen cheques to buy railway season tickets.

Kunle Arewa, from Tudor Close, is said to have drained �13,000 from the bank accounts of a string of companies.

The alleged conman, originally from Nigeria, is accused of carrying out the scam between September 2009 and June 2010.

Prosecutors said they are at a loss to explain how Arewa, 44, allegedly obtained the chequebooks, which had been issued by Lloyds TSB, HSBC, and Allied Irish Banks.

Arewa was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday (October 19) and is expected to be sent to crown court on November 16.

He has not yet entered a plea to five counts of fraud by false representation and failing to surrender to police bail.