News / Supervision and unpaid work for PayPal fraud
A WOMAN from Lerwick who defrauded more than £18,000 through her former partner’s PayPal account has been placed under supervision for 18 months and given 200 hours of unpaid work.
Charlotte Smith, of Goodlad Crescent, previously admitted at Lerwick Sheriff Court to using a PayPal account without authority to do so between 31 May and 26 July this year.
The court heard on Wednesday that all of the money had been paid back in full.
Over a period of two months, the 25-year-old transferred funds into her personal PayPal account and made payments for goods she obtained by fraud.
This took place at an address in Whalsay and elsewhere.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client did not realise exactly where the money had been coming from and became “hooked on the kick and rush” of ordering items online.
He said the court case had been a “dreadful shock” for Smith.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said it was an “astonishing amount of money” and gave Smith a community payback order as a direct alternative to custody.
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