Gold Coast mother-daughter duo serial scammers have been sentenced to jail
A mother-daughter duo of serial fraudsters who scammed more than $107,000 through fake loan applications and a dodgy party planning business have been sentenced to jail.
Crime and Court
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A MOTHER-daughter duo of serial fraudsters who scammed more than $107,000 through fake loan applications and a dodgy party planning business have each been sentenced to four years jail.
The mother in the two-person scam team Cassandra Thomas, 51, walked from the Southport watch-house yesterday after spending 480 days behind bars.
Her daughter Courtney Elice Glover, 28, will remain in prison until the end of September having only spent 260 days in pre-sentence custody.
The pair pleaded guilty in Southport District Court to multiple counts of fraud, attempted fraud and obtaining someone else’s identification details.
The duo’s crime spree spread from the Gold Coast to Innisfail and began in 2013 before they fled to Victoria while on bail in 2015.
Their crimes include:
- Applying for 32 loans online through businesses like Cash Converters and GE Financing and receiving $107,000 using fake aliases and the identification details of people they had befriended while living on the Gold Coast.
- Attempting the same scam another 10 times only to be denied.
- Faking a children’s party planning business in Innisfail, getting $2000 from parents before destroying their fake shop front.
- Destroying the credit history of up to 14 people, three of whom now need a court document to explain their poor financial history.
Glover also used fake documents to rent a home while on bail, and sold a lounge suite for $500 online, sending the buyer to an empty house when they went to pick it up.
Thomas also rented multiple whitegoods from Radio Rentals using fake details.
Crown prosecutor Michael Mitchell said despite the large amount of money involved the offending was not well thought out.
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“It was likely that it would be discovered,” he said.
The court heard the pair were not living a life of luxury but instead using the money they gained for general living expenses.
The pair were caught during a raid in Benowa in 2013 before they moved to Innisfail while on bail.
It was there they set up the fake party planning business.
Both women have prior history for conducting scams.
Thomas has previously served jail time for faking sales numbers to earn more money for her then employer.
When Glover was 18 she was caught passing bad cheques to Suncorp bank and made away with $7500.
Judge Michael Rackemann suspended the pair’s jail terms for five years once they had both completed at least 12 months.
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