Woman impersonated husband to steal his money to pay 'romance scammer'

A woman impersonated her husband’s voice to embezzle thousands of pounds as part of a mortgage and pension fraud.

Karen Lawrence previously pled guilty at Ayr Sheriff Court to forming a fraudulent scheme to swindle her husband out of almost £100,000.

The 66-year-old from Kilmarnock called a mortgage firm and a pension company to obtain £99,659 illegally.

Evidence showed she adopted a male voice during those calls to fool staff into believing she was her husband.

In July 2019, Lawrence made three calls to the mortgage firm during which she adopted a male voice and pretended to be her husband to fraudulently withdraw money from the house’s value in his name.

A payment of £54,557.47 was then paid into the couple’s joint account before £54,000 was transferred out of that account between August 13 and 16, 2019, into various other accounts.

Lawrence followed the same tactics to take £45,101.68 from her husband’s pension.

The pension company received six calls from Lawrence purporting to be her husband.

In her defence, Lawrence claimed she stole the money because she fell victim to an online romance fraudster who had tricked her into sending it.

Lawrence was given a Community Payback Order as a direct alternative to custody and placed under supervision for two years.

She was also made subject to a six-month Restriction of Liberty Order from 8pm to 6am and ordered to perform 300 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.

A ten-year non-harassment order, banning Lawrence from contacting or attempting to contact the victim, was also imposed.

Anne Marie Hicks, procurator fiscal for North Strathclyde, said: “Karen Lawrence committed a serious betrayal of trust in deceiving her husband.

“She went to extreme and elaborate lengths to fraudulently obtain significant amounts of money which did not belong to her.

“As prosecutors, we understand the impact on victims of this type of offending and are fully committed to tackling financial crime of this kind.”