IT WAS almost as if Youssef Babbou had been watching the 2002 Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can, the mostly true story of a celebrated American conman who pocketed $2.5 million in the 1960s by forging cheques.

But times move on, and paper has been replaced by plastic. Babbou, a Tunisian, was sentenced by Croydon Crown Court yesterday to four years in prison for a series of scams against credit card companies that provided him with a life of luxury. He had already served prison terms in France and Italy for similar offences.

His was a world of Mercedes-Benz cars, Rolex watches, diamonds from De Beers and shopping sprees in Harrods. He admitted in court to receiving £117,000 worth of goods and services by deception, but prosecutors said that the figure was a mere “glimpse of the offending”.

In the film, Frank Abagnole Jr assumes the identities of an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer to milk bank accounts. Babbou, 49, turned to the “rich lists” published by magazines and pretended to be a variety of millionaires who had lost their credit cards.

His principal target was American Express. Posing variously as a golf partner of Bill Clinton, the boss of a chain of Las Vegas casinos, the head of a leading finance company and inventor of part of the space shuttle, Babbou would ring an emergency number and ask for duplicate credit cards to be sent to an address that he supplied.

On November 15, 2004, Babbou reported the loss of a card belonging to Frank Fertitta III, head of a chain of US casinos. He went to an American Express office in Knightsbridge, where he was able to secure a replacement card by providing a false identity. He then drew £10,000 using the new card as guarantee, and over the next three days spent £10,000 at Harrods, more than £5,000 at Gucci and £10,000 at Watches of Switzerland.

Nine days later Babbou collected another replacement card in the name of Dennis Baake, an American author and golf partner of Mr Clinton, from an Amex office in the City. Soon afterwards he obtained a card in the name of Robert Golisano, the chairman of a US financial company.

Using the false cards Babbou then spent £300 on mobile phone top-up cards, £7,000 in Harrods’ electrical department, £13,000 on watches, carpets, men’s clothing and gift items, £23,700 on a cut diamond and platinum pendant at De Beers, and spent several nights in hotels in Berlin and Frankfurt.

So confident was Babbou, the court was told, that when one bank queried his cheque for a relatively small amount he went and had lunch at the Sheraton while awaiting clearance.

The prosecution claimed that Babbou had planned to ship all the stolen goods to Tunisia but they were intercepted, and a copy of The Sunday Times Rich List was found with them.

Jonathan Black, for Babbou, said that the offences had not initially been for personal gain. “He started in 2001 to cover medical costs for his daughter’s heart operation,” he said.

Judge Stephen Waller was unmoved, recommending that Babbou be deported at the end of his sentence.

Detective Inspector Roy West, who led the investigation, said afterwards that in a period of five months Babbou had spent more than £500,000.

Abagnole, on whose life the Spielberg film is based, was sentenced to 12 years, but released early on the condition that he pass on his secrets to banks free of charge. He ended up making far more money from books about fraud than he ever did from fraud itself.

CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN

Elliot Castro, 24, from Aberdeen, was jailed last year after admitting £70,000 of credit card fraud, including club-class air travel, stays at the Ritz and sprees at Harrods and Harvey Nichols

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