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LONDON: A glamorous fraudster who feared ruin after a divorce is facing years in jail for stealing £2 million (S$5.2 million) worth of jewellery and antiques from leading auction houses.
Shahra Marsh, 52, posed as a French socialite to fool Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams and numerous fashion houses in London into believing that she was their 'usual type of affluent client' over a seven-year period and amassed a collection of 16th-century artworks, ornate jewellery and antique furniture, including a Louis XV commode.
She had denied a string of fraud charges, but on the sixth day of a trial at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, she pleaded guilty to 38 counts of fraud, deception and concealment, reported The Telegraph. She was expected to be jailed yesterday.
Marsh, of Iranian and French origin, used aliases like Shara Sylvia Marsh De Savigny as part of her fraud between 2001 and this year, the court was told.
She also tricked landlords into renting her luxurious flats in Belgravia, Chelsea, Mayfair and Canary Wharf. Her charade was so successful that she was invited to VIP parties at Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.
During their investigation, police discovered jewellery worth £770,000 stashed in a safe deposit box as well as over £1 million worth of stolen art, antiques and jewellery in a storage facility in east London.
But despite her treasure trove, she had little money of her own and was claiming incapacity benefit worth up to £85.50 a week. Detectives said her criminal career was triggered by her divorce from her property developer husband seven years ago with whom she had settled down as a housewife with a comfortable lifestyle.
Marsh pulled off the scam with breathtaking ease, Scotland Yard detectives said. She wrote herself cheques for up to £200,000 at a time, which would briefly appear in her account as a credit, before bouncing. Marsh then presented bank statements at the auction houses to apparently prove she had the cash to pay for the elaborate items.
It was only after parting with the goods that the auction houses would realise they had been conned, said a Press Association report.
'This woman amassed a vast quantity of stolen property through complex and protracted criminal methods,' said detective constable Marek Coghill
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