A 66-year-old woman from Kilmarnock has been sentenced for impersonating her husband's voice to defraud him of nearly £100,000. Karen Lawrence pleaded guilty at Ayr Sheriff Court to forming a fraudulent scheme to swindle her husband John out of the money.
Prosecutors stated that Lawrence called a mortgage firm and a pension company, adopting a male voice to trick staff into believing she was her husband. Through these calls, she illegally obtained a total of £99,659.12.
Lawrence was ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work within 12 months as part of a community payback order. She also received a two-year supervision order and a six-month restriction of liberty order, requiring her to remain at home from 8pm to 6am.
Additionally, a 10-year non-harassment order was imposed, banning her from contacting her husband. The Crown Office noted that Lawrence claimed she stole the money because she was the victim of a fake online romance fraudster to whom she sent the funds.
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.'
