Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:42 am
Woman jailed for huge debt in sister's name
A WOMAN who stole her sister's identity to claim nearly £250,000 worth of credit was jailed yesterday.
Elaine Hall used her younger sister's details to trade in her run-down former council house for a £140,000 home, gain a job, buy a sports car and take on hundreds of pounds of debt.
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Her sister, Linda Cowan, caught her out when she started receiving demands for overdue payments. The chartered accountant had told Hall she hoped she was jailed for the con that tore their family apart. At Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday, Hall was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
After the case, Ms Cowan said: "I'm shocked, but I'm just so glad. This has been a four-year struggle and I would have felt very let down by the justice system if she hadn't been jailed."
The scam was uncovered in December 2003 when Ms Cowan received a call from a hire-purchase company chasing payments on a Ford Puma car, which she had never owned. She unravelled a thread of deception involving bank accounts, store cards, mobile phones and a £140,000 four-bedroom home in Livingston secured in her name.
When she informed the credit provider of the fraud, she was advised to request her credit history report. She was shocked to find she had several black marks against her for missed payments - all courtesy of her sister.
Ms Cowan even contacted Hall's workplace - the disability care home Leonard Caesar in Edinburgh - only to find that "Linda Hall" was working there, too. It emerged that Hall had secured employment in her sister's name to disguise a previous criminal record for fraud.
Hall pleaded guilty to taking part in the fraudulent scheme in May. Alan Jackson, acting for Hall, had claimed that his client was "remorseful".
However, Sheriff McPartlin told Hall yesterday: "You have caused enormous difficulty for your sister, damaging her credit rating and giving her concern about her career and work situation."
Source: thescotsman.com
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A WOMAN who stole her sister's identity to claim nearly £250,000 worth of credit was jailed yesterday.
Elaine Hall used her younger sister's details to trade in her run-down former council house for a £140,000 home, gain a job, buy a sports car and take on hundreds of pounds of debt.
Iframes/JavaScript Tags:
Her sister, Linda Cowan, caught her out when she started receiving demands for overdue payments. The chartered accountant had told Hall she hoped she was jailed for the con that tore their family apart. At Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday, Hall was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
After the case, Ms Cowan said: "I'm shocked, but I'm just so glad. This has been a four-year struggle and I would have felt very let down by the justice system if she hadn't been jailed."
The scam was uncovered in December 2003 when Ms Cowan received a call from a hire-purchase company chasing payments on a Ford Puma car, which she had never owned. She unravelled a thread of deception involving bank accounts, store cards, mobile phones and a £140,000 four-bedroom home in Livingston secured in her name.
When she informed the credit provider of the fraud, she was advised to request her credit history report. She was shocked to find she had several black marks against her for missed payments - all courtesy of her sister.
Ms Cowan even contacted Hall's workplace - the disability care home Leonard Caesar in Edinburgh - only to find that "Linda Hall" was working there, too. It emerged that Hall had secured employment in her sister's name to disguise a previous criminal record for fraud.
Hall pleaded guilty to taking part in the fraudulent scheme in May. Alan Jackson, acting for Hall, had claimed that his client was "remorseful".
However, Sheriff McPartlin told Hall yesterday: "You have caused enormous difficulty for your sister, damaging her credit rating and giving her concern about her career and work situation."
Source: thescotsman.com
Please post any news stories about IVAs here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=5
See my Blog:
http://ivanews.blogs.iva.co.uk