A Polish migrant yesterday admitted luring fellow Poles to Scotland for bogus jobs and then abandoning them, penniless, on the streets.

A Polish migrant yesterday admitted luring fellow Poles to Scotland for bogus jobs and then abandoning them, penniless, on the streets.

Lucas Zylinski, who admitted charges of fraud and theft, faces a jail term after two Polish women were left stranded.

Joanna Cieslak, 31, and Pawel Janicki, 32, had answered an advert on a Polish website offering them the chance to relocate to Scotland and be housed for an agreed fee.

They flew over and paid £500 to an unknown woman who met them on their arrival. She and Zylinski then drove them to what they thought was their new home on the south side of Glasgow. But when the women got out at the flat, Zylinski and his accomplice sped off, leaving the frightened pair with nothing except what they were wearing.

Zylinski admitted the charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Aileen Thom, prosecuting, said a number of Polish citizens were being targeted by criminals luring them to Scotland under "false pretences".

On August 19 the women flew into Prestwick Airport from Warsaw and met another Polish woman. They paid the stranger £250 each for their accommodation.

Ms Cieslak and Ms Janicki then packed their luggage into a car driven by Zylinski, 24, and were taken to Dixon Avenue, Govanhill, Glasgow.

Fiscal Ms Thom told the court: "The two women got out with the female who had met them earlier. The female then went back into the car still being driven by Zylinski. The vehicle made off with the luggage of the two complainers inside."

The belongings included their two suitcases, a laptop computer and a quantity of food. The women spoke little English. A fellow Pole came to their aid and helped them contact the police.

The registration on Zylinski's car was picked up on CCTV. He and the car were later found in Monkton Road, Prestwick. Zylinski was arrested, but told officers: "I don't know these people."

The court heard that the £500 the women paid and their belongings - valued at £750 - were never recovered.

Co-accused Wioletta Stepien, 27, was also charged with being involved in the scam, but her not guilty pleas were accepted. The mother-of-one did admit to escaping from Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital on September 10 after being remanded there for a mental health assessment.

Sheriff Robert Anthony, QC, yesterday remanded the pair in custody, adding there was "a possibility" they could abscond. The case was adjourned until later this month.

In September, Strathclyde Police warned that criminals were posing as employment agents in Poland to entice Poles over to Scotland.