A husband and wife from Chelsea, who conspired together to commit £87,897 of fraud have been sentenced at Inner London Crown Court. Mr Emmanuel Scotts, 53, was sentenced to four years in prison while Mrs Behnaz Scotts, 51, received a one year and eight months prison sentence suspended for two years. The married couple pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and conspiracy to commit fraud following a successful investigation by the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a specialist police unit funded by the banking and cards industry.

The couple opened numerous bank accounts in different names, using fake identification and doctored documents which gave false impressions of their wealth. Mr Scotts falsely claimed to be a stockbroker while Mrs Scotts claimed she was a beautician, for which there was no evidence. A total of six fraudulent accounts were opened in different names, which the criminals then used to deposit foreign cheques, one of which was for £81,000. CCTV footage shows an individual using a debit card in the name of one of Mr Scotts’ fraudulent accounts purchasing several Rolex watches, worth over £36,000, at luxury watch shops on Bond Street and Oxford Street.

The fraud was spotted by their bank and referred to the DCPCU which investigated the case. Mr Scotts was arrested on 15 April 2020 at Heathrow airport, and following a search of his luggage, the DCPCU officer found Mr Scotts in possession of approximately £7,000 in euros, several credit cards, cheque books, and a bank statement showing a balance of £104,000. The DCPCU also searched Mr Scotts’s second home address in Wandsworth, finding blank cheques and bank cards in other account names, as well as account details written down.

Additionally, in an attempt to stall the investigation, Mr Scotts submitted a serious complaint against the DCPCU’s Detective Constable Martin Godsave. This was not upheld.