A man accused of a £117,000 online dating fraud allegedly told a woman he needed cash to lift his family out of poverty because his parents had died in a car crash.

Sheikh Farooq Ijaz, 45, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, pretended to the woman that he was in a relationship with her and intended to marry her, Dundee Sheriff Court heard.

He faced a single charge of fraud during a brief private hearing before Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC.

The 45-year-old is said to have told the woman he "required a quantity of money in order to send it back to his family in Pakistan who were living in poverty".

Prosecutors say Ijaz, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, told the woman his parents had "both previously died in a motor vehicle accident".

The charge alleges the truth was "as he well knew" he had no intention of sending money to family in Pakistan and induced the woman to pay him £117,464.46 by electronic bank transfers, obtaining the money by fraud.

Ijaz made no plea or declaration and the case was continued for further examination.

He was granted bail ahead of a further court appearance.