London, Aug 21 (IANS): A British Indian woman has been jailed for a series of frauds targeting elderly pensioners in Britain, media reported.

Rajbir Sangha, 59, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud involving 4,041 pounds (around $6,700) and one offence of converting 10,000 pounds (around $16,590) of criminal property, between May and October 2011, in Leicester city in Britain's East Midlands, the Leicester Mercury reported Wednesday.

Describing her as a "dishonest manipulator", the Leicester Crown Court jailed Sangha for two years and six months for duping elderly victims out of thousands of pounds.

Sentencing, Judge Philip Head said: "You are an entrenched and dishonest manipulator. It was deliberate targeting of a large number of vulnerable victims."

In her defence, Sangha accepted that she was dishonest and regretted that she had made some bad judgement calls.

The court heard that three of the frauds involved her working as a self-employed saleswoman of disability products.

Leicester-based Sangha grossly overcharged pensioners, aged between 79 and 85, retailing 59.99 pounds full body massage mats for 380 pounds each.

She also claimed before an elderly couple that she was a carer or paid helper for a company, Premier Gold Care.

Due to that misrepresentation they took her on as their carer.

She again charged them an exorbitant 1,944 pounds for two months' work, before they were alerted by a concerned neighbour.

It was revealed that Sangha continued her criminal frauds after being sentenced to four-week jail and suspended for 12 months by a magistrates court in August 2012.

Sangha, also acting as an agent for a company, made 1,137 pounds commission from elderly couple on the sale of a bed.

The prosecution said Sangha also laundered about 10,000 pounds -- where a number of cash deposits from unknown sources had gone through her bank account.