Scots pensioner who impersonated husband in £100,000 fraud spared jail

A scheming Scots pensioner who pretended to be her husband to pocket nearly £100,000 has been spared jail over the fraud.

Karen Lawrence put on a deep voice to dupe finance workers into believing she was her husband, John Edwin Lawrence.

Staff at the companies in question believed she was her husband and she managed to trouser £99,659.12.

 The 66-year-old admitted her guilt previously and returned to the dock at Ayr Sheriff Court today, Tuesday, March 31, 2

026, to be sentenced.

She was given a Community Payback Order, which will see her supervised by social workers 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. 

The Community Payback Order was imposed as as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence, and she was also made the subject of a Non-Harassment Order.

The NHO will last for 10 years and bans Lawrence from contacting or attempting to contact the victim for that period of time.

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."

In July 2019, Lawrence made three calls to the mortgage firm during which she adopted a male voice and pretended to be her husband.

That allowed her to fraudulently withdraw money out of the house’s value in his name, which saw a payment of £54,557.47 paid into the couple’s joint account.

A sum of £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, after the pension company received six calls from Lawrence purporting to be her husband.

In her defence, Lawrence claimed she stole the money because she was the victim of a fake online romance fraudster to whom she sent the money.