Loretta May Charlesworth pleaded guilty to money laundering after being scammed

Despite herself falling victim to con artist’s love scam, losing almost $500,000, a 66-year-old woman found herself charged with money laundering. Here’s how it all happened.

A Toowoomba woman scammed out of almost $500,000 by an online “love interest” and lured into laundering almost $50,000 can’t believe she was scammed, her barrister has told a city court.

Barrister David Jones told Toowoomba District Court a lonely Loretta May Charlesworth’s family had encouraged her to find companionship via the internet in the hope of finding a travelling companion.

The 66-year-old soon met a “Nathaniel” online and the two chatted regularly with “Nathaniel” convincing her that he was an antique dealer and travelled overseas to auctions and had a very lucrative business.

Before long “Nathaniel” convinced Charlesworth send him money to travel overseas to buy a valuable painting which he would bring back to Australia and sell for a profit, Mr Jones said.

Soon the requests for more and more money for such things as a heart operation, travel and accommodation and a number of other scams which he had manipulated Charlesworth into believing, he said.

Barrister David Jones

Eventually, police monitored the money being transferred from Charlesworth’s bank account and warned her that “Nathaniel” was a scammer and not to send any more money, Mr Jones said.

She had complied with the police advice until “out of the blue” she was contacted by a “Liz” claiming to be “Nathaniel’s” daughter who said “Nathaniel” was dead but had left an estate with money to repay Charlesworth if she could help with some expenses to open “Nathaniel’s” estate.

“All of a sudden $47,500 is placed into her account,” Mr Jones said.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said that money had been scammed from a business whose email had been hacked.

When Charlesworth went to send two accounts of $8000 to “Liz”, the bank put a stop on the transaction and froze Charlesworth’s accounts, she said.

Ms Friedewald said Charlesworth had initially been charged with “knowingly” engaging in money laundering arising from the $47,500 transaction but the charge had been downgraded to “recklessly” engaging in money laundering to which she pleaded guilty.

Mr Jones said because the bank stopped the transaction no one was out of pocket due to his client’s offending though his client had lost almost half-a-million dollars herself.

“Mrs Charlesworth is a bigger victim than she offended,” he said.

“Mrs Charlesworth is embarrassed by what she’s done.”

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren SC told Charlesworth she had been “duped by a conman”.

“People who are lonely, as you were, are ripe for the picking,” he said.

However, taking into account her otherwise spotless record, Judge Horneman-Wren ordered no conviction be recorded and placed Charlesworth on two years probation.