Man Charged Over Alps Murder Bank Fraud

A man has been remanded in custody accused of trying to access the bank accounts of the family who were murdered in the French Alps.

Nigerian-born Abiodun John, 33, was charged with fraud after allegedly trying to get into accounts of members of Saad al Hilli's family after his death on September 5.

Surrey Police could not confirm whether the accounts belonged to Mr al Hilli himself.

They also said the charges were not linked to the on-going investigation into the murder of the Iraqi-born engineer, his wife, his mother-in-law and a French cyclist.

A spokeswoman said: "Abiodun David John was arrested at an address in Salford, Greater Manchester, in October.

"He returned on bail ... where he was charged with eight counts of fraud by false representation which are alleged to have taken place between July and September this year."

He seemed dazed and fell to the floor when he appeared at Guildford Magistrates' Court.

Around 100 police officers in Britain and France are investigating the murders of Mr al Hilli, 50, his dentist wife Iqbal, 47, her elderly mother Suhaila al Allaf, 74, and passing cyclist Sylvain Mollier in a gun attack near Chevaline.

The couple's four-year-old daughter Zeena lay undiscovered under her mother's body for eight hours after the shooting, while her sister Zainab, seven, was found nearby with serious injuries after being beaten and shot.

French investigators searched the al Hilli family home in Claygate, Surrey, in the wake of their deaths.

Later in September, Surrey Police asked Greater Manchester Police to arrest John on suspicion of fraud offences.

John, who has since moved to London, denies the charges.