Con woman in £2m fraud is jailed for six years

A fraudster was jailed for six years today after bouncing cheques worth about £2 million in some of Europe's top auction houses.

Shahra Marsh, 52, gained the confidence of a string of auctioneers and boutiques in London, Paris and Geneva and took goods from them using fraudulent cheques.

She would use grandiose variations of her name, such as Shahra Sylvia Marsh de Savigny, and tricked those she befriended into believing she was part of Europe's rich jet set, London's Southwark Crown Court heard.

From 2001 Marsh became a regular in Europe's top auction houses and mixed with celebrities at fashion-house launches. The divorcee would build strong relationships with staff and auctioneers, either in person or through a series of letters, and lavish champagne on assistants in designer shops.

Marsh pleaded guilty yesterday to 20 charges of fraudulently obtaining and concealing goods between May 2005 and July 2007. She had previously admitted 18 similar counts at earlier court appearances.

She was originally arrested in October, 2006. She was bailed in April last year but continued to carry out the high-value fraud, police said. After being remanded in custody in September last year, police uncovered a Docklands storage facility and found more than £1 million worth of stolen art, antiques and jewellery. They estimate that Marsh stole up to £2 million of goods through the deception.

Judge James Wadsworth QC said: "I think you showed very little remorse or shame. Your behaviour can be viewed as compulsive. You indulged in premeditated and manipulative behaviour.

"Your first sentence had little or no effect on you and I now have to sentence you for matters more grave."

Michael House, defending, said: "She is an obsessive collector of beautiful things.

"She sees something that is lovely and forms a compulsion to own it. These are not crimes committed for monetary gain. They are committed for the sheer pleasure of ownership."

Among those hit were Bonhams, Christie's and Sotheby's in London as well as upmarket boutiques in Paris.