A couple whose fraudulent borrowing spree saw them obtain more than £1.1 million pounds from lenders have been ordered to pay back just £305, South Wales Argus reported.
Bryan McNaught obtained over £800,000 from defrauding credit card providers, banks and mortgage lenders between April 2003 and April 2009 but will only be held accountable for £5 due to a lack of assets.
His partner Sarah Harris also benefitted from around £280,000 of illegally-obtained funds in the same scam.
In a hearing on Sunday, Newport Crown Court heard that the pair had allegedly posed as football agents and barristers to falsely remortgage a £180,000 home in Caerleon.
Harris was also believed to have obtained a £300,000 advance secured against another property after claiming that she owned a stake in an international football development.
Harris was ordered to pay back £300 within 28 days for her involvement in the fraud, while McNaught has been given three months to pay back £5.
In March 2011, McNaught and Harris were served with 36 month and 52 week sentences respectively for the scam.
An additional prison sentence may be added should either of them fail to pay back their fines in the allotted time.
Newport Crown Court also heard how the couple also stole £30,000 from each of their teenage children, left to them as part of their Grandfather’s inheritance, earlier this year.
The pair, who lived in the Monmouthshire village of Redbrook, were jailed for 15 months after the same court convicted them of defrauding £60,000 out of the teenagers, aged 17 and 15.
During the trial, which took place in April, the court was told that money was left to Harris by her father who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness in November 2009.
She later convinced him to leave the money to her children instead.
Despite her change in heart, Harris later used the money to pay off her own debts and to buy a motorcycle.
Speaking at the time, Judge David Morris called the scheme a “carefully planned fraud”, the title reported.
He later added: "It was for your benefit, you were in severe financial trouble, with creditors chasing you and under investigation for mortgage fraud."
"You quite deliberately dissipated the children’s inheritance to pay your debts, continue the family lifestyle for your own pleasurable benefit - the motorbike is one illustration."
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