Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Face of A Scammer, Not What You Would Expect




Hard to believe that this lady conned two brothers of nearly £150000, claiming she had cancer.

Lindsey Mitchell, aged 31, spent the cash on hiring limousines, staying in posh hotels and taking her pals to concerts.
She also contacted estate agents with a view to buying a house.

Her devastated fiance Richard Fortune was so distressed by Mitchell's deception, he suffered a heart attack and is in hospital awaiting a transplant.

His brother Derek Fortune became suspicious his bank account was being emptied in May last year.

He made inquiries which revealed his £90,000 savings had vanished. He was left £2,495 overdrawn on his current account and had only eight pence in his savings account.

In a victim impact statement Derek told the court: "This money I will never be able to replace and was the savings of my life's work.

"I am on the point of losing my job where I have worked for 20 years because I have had to take so much time off to visit my brother.

"I fear that if I lose him through ill health I will not have anything worth living for. This seems to be a living nightmare which just gets worse. There is nothing left.

"Despite what happens to her today these debts will stay with us, and I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel."

Swindon crown court heard how Mitchell drained the bank accounts of fiance Richard and brother Derek without them knowing.

She stole the brothers bank cards, emptied their savings accounts and secured an £11,995 loan against fiance Richard's family home.

When the pair questioned suspicious activity on their accounts, Mitchell fled the country claiming she had to care for her terminally ill father in the Czech Republic.

By then Mitchell had fleeced her fiance out of £41,000 and his brother Derek out of £108,000.

She justified her extravagant spending by telling the pair she had a series of serious illnesses, including cancerand liver disease.
Prosecutor Claire Marlow told the court: "Derek and Richard Fortune live together in what was their parents' house.

"They have a frugal lifestyle, and are unsophisticated in the ways of the world.

"They have not embraced the technological age and until they met this lady were inexperienced in relationships.

"She would tell them she was suffering from life-threatening illnesses including liver disease and cancer and at times was receiving treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

"Enquiries revealed the money was being used on limousines and staying in a number of hotels as well as taking friends to concerts and at one stage she was in contact with an estate agent about buying a house."


Mitchell, from Swindon, Wilts, was jailed on Friday after she admitted 15 fraud charges and one of theft between 2008 and 2012.

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