Debt-ridden Yorkshire fraudster used bank job to trick friends and family into invest in scam

Debt-ridden Annabelle Allan, 29, even scammed her own brother by taking out personal loans in his name, Bradford Crown Court heard. When she was on bail for her earlier offending, she embarked on a third type of fraud after she got a job at a car sales business.

Allan, who had no previous convictions, began her offending back in 2017 when she was said to have been struggling with her own debts. She was still committing crimes in May last year when she obtained over £37,000 from customers who thought they were buying vehicles.

Prosecutor Marte Alnaes said Allan racked up more than £16,600 worth of debts in her brother's name, which led to him having a County Court judgement made against him. She said her brother had spent months trying to "clear his name" and he had no option but to support the police in prosecuting his sister.

Between 2017 and 2019, Allan also used her IT position at a Lloyds Bank data centre to devise a "detailed and convincing" fake share scheme before encouraging family, friends and acquaintances to invest in it.

Over that period Allan was said to have obtained just under £500,000, but almost £330,000 had been "recycled" back to investors.

The court heard that some victims had also been reimbursed by Lloyds Bank, but there was still an unaccounted sum of £167,796.40. Allan was said to have forged signatures and sent investors fake letters purporting to be from the police or solicitors.

Lloyds Bank investigated Allan's activities in early 2019 and after being suspended she was dismissed four months later. One of Allan's victims said she had given the defendant her life savings and the defendant had shown no remorse just "crocodile tears".

After police began their investigation into Allan's frauds she was released on bail. Last May she used her position at a car sales firm to advertise vehicles and obtain payments from three unsuspecting customers totalling £37,676.

Allan's barrister Gurdit Singh said Allan fell into a "vicious cycle of debt" after taking out payday loan when she was 18. Mr Singh said Allan had expressed genuine remorse and recognised the significant impact on her victims.

He said some of the victims had in fact submitted character references on behalf of his client and submitted there was a strong prospect of rehabilitation.

Recorder Bryan Cox KC said Allan, who admitted fraud, had shown persistence and a considerable degree of sophistication in her offending.

Jailing Allan, he told her: "You abused your position at Lloyds and you set up a convincing fake Lloyds share scheme. You used that scheme to extract money from friends and family and other people you were acquainted with and you effectively used your job as a cover."