A British pensioner reportedly embezzled thousands of pounds from her own mother to give to a scammer pretending to be her lover.
Getting scammed is terrible…but stealing from your old mother? Wow.
At a glance:
- Maureen Gunn, a 66-year-old pensioner, embezzled over £14,500 from her elderly mother to send to a scammer posing as a UN Navy captain.
- She was scammed out of £50,000 over four years and now has no money, facing estrangement from her family.
- Gunn was sentenced to community service and ordered to repay the embezzled money at £150 a month.
A 66-year-old pensioner, Maureen Gunn, has admitted to embezzling £14,500 from her mother after falling victim to an online romance scam. Gunn, from East Lothian, was convinced she was in a relationship with a man claiming to be a United Nations Navy captain named Joshua Jacob, who needed money for medical treatment. Despite never meeting him in person, Gunn sent him a total of £50,000 over the course of four years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l8nh_XwAVs
The fraudster began asking for money after a year of online communication, claiming he had traveled to the UK and was in a hospital in London in need of funds. Gunn, believing she was helping a man she would eventually marry, sold her car, jewelry, and took out loans to send him money. When she had no funds left of her own, she began withdrawing money from her mother’s bank account, for which she had access due to her role as her mother’s carer.
The scam has torn Gunn’s family apart, with her brother, David Marr, describing her as a “silly old woman” and criticizing her for not heeding warnings that it was a scam. Marr expressed frustration that despite their warnings, Gunn continued sending money to the scammer, ignoring obvious red flags such as the fact that the United Nations does not have a navy.
Gunn was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to embezzling £14,521.60 from her mother between September 2020 and July 2022. The court heard that she had been ostracized by her family and fully understood the gravity of her crime. She was ordered to complete 140 hours of community service and to repay the money at a rate of £150 per month.
Reflecting on her actions, Gunn admitted she had been “very stupid” and expressed deep regret for the situation, stating that the scammer had “taken everything” from her. She also acknowledged the irreparable damage done to her relationship with her family, which has refused to speak to her since the incident.