Woman conned her family out of £13k

A WOMAN defrauded her family out of more than £13,000 by claiming her dead brother's estate contained no money.

Caroline Woodhouse, 51, told her two older sisters that her late brother, Ian Woodhouse, had no assets, but, in reality, he had over £13,000 of savings and insurance policies.

It was only when her sisters made their own inquiries that they discovered the fraud.

They discovered that Woodhouse, of Beverley, had cleared out his bank accounts and put the money in her own.

Recorder Nick Barker has sentenced her to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He told her: "Your brother sadly passed away and it seems from that date on you resolved, quite determinedly, to ensure that all the money in his estate came to you and was not shared between you and your sisters.

"You deliberately sought to hide information and told them that you would deal with his affairs and you kept them at arm's length.

"It would be of great pain to them that the behaviour by you was coming only days after the funeral.

"It was an abuse of trust. While not sophisticated, it was determined and preplanned.

"The money appears to have been frittered away and not spent on anything of value."

Woodhouse spent the money on internet purchases and groceries and paid £2,500 into her daughter's trust fund account.

Her brother died on May 29, last year.

Within days of his funeral, she had cleared out his bank accounts and redeemed his insurance policies.

Woodhouse pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud at Hull Crown Court.

Prosecutor Charlotte Baines told the court she had claimed in her police interview that her brother had intended his money to go to her.

Ms Baines said: "She said he was going to make a will and leave it all to her."

Woodhouse forged her sisters' signatures on the documents to release his funds from the banks.

In a victim impact statement, her sisters said they were very angry and upset by her actions because they had placed all their trust in her.