A former Marlborough woman who tricked a number of elderly and vulnerable victims into handing over large sums of money has been sent to prison for four years.
Lorraine Ellis, 56, of Kintbury, Berkshire and formally of Hungerford and Marlborough, was sentenced after admitting a total of 11 offences when she appeared at Winchester Crown Court last week.
Ellis, who had previous convictions for fraud, conned her victims into investing thousands of pounds into her wine business before making off with the money during a three year period starting in 2006.
The offences included:
• Conning an elderly couple and their vulnerable daughter from Swindon out of £24,000
• Convincing a young woman from Marlborough, whose father had recently died, to hand over £21,000
• Being given £1,900 from an elderly man in Hungerford who had recently been widowed
• Opening up two credit card accounts in the name of a gardener from Chester and amassing a debt in excess of £5,000
• Obtaining two mortgages for £105,000 and £156,000
• Fraudulently opening a Next store card and obtaining goods worth £110.
Detective Constable Keith Harford told Marlborough News Online: “Ellis is a confidence trickster who targeted elderly and vulnerable victims purporting to be in the wine business and conned them into handing over large amounts of cash to ‘invest’ in her business.”
“Ellis dishonestly obtained property and goods in excess of £280,000. The money still outstanding to the victims is in the region of £82,900.”
Wiltshire Police have revealed too some extracts from Ellis’ victim’s impact statements.
Victim One: “I initially thought she had a heart of gold, but I now realise she is a cold heartless person who was out to steal money from me. I honestly believe that she should go to prison, in order to put a stop to her behaviour and to prevent other vulnerable people becoming victim of her criminality.”
Victim Two: “Ellis befriended me, she acted as though she was a close trusting friend. She totally fooled me into believing she was a nice genuine person. She has lied to me, and taken advantage of me all for her own personal gain.”
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