Lavish life of £2m fraudster

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by Natalie Hancock BBC News Shahra Marsh regularly attended elite parties

To all outward appearances Shahra Marsh was living the dream.

She lived in expensive flats in exclusive areas of London, wore designer clothes and spent her time buying works of art, antiques and rare jewellery.

But the reality was very different. Her rent was unpaid and her luxury collectables and glamorous lifestyle were the product of a multi-million pound fraud which duped prominent auction houses and art dealers.

Shahra Marsh was born in Iran and first came to this country about 20 years ago when she married a British man.

Police described her as a "comfortably off" housewife who led a seemingly quiet life.

But something changed as in 2004 the newly-divorced Marsh was convicted of fraud and served 10 months in prison.

After her release she travelled between London, Paris and Geneva cultivating relationships with auction houses and art dealers.

SOME RECOVERED ITEMS Diamond ring from Guy Ellia worth £110,000A jade and diamond pendant worth £12,478Pearl necklace and earrings worth £22,935A pair of earrings from De Grisogono worth £23,850A watch and ring from Leon Hatot valued at £27,120

She dressed like a woman with significant wealth in designer outfits, fur coats and expensive jewellery, and would appear in shops laden with purchases from Dior and Cartier.

She also occasionally used a false name, Shahra Christina Sylvia Marsh de Savigny.

She befriended assistants, and might make a series of visits before she actually tried to buy anything - by which time she had struck up a rapport with staff.

With a combination of charm, audacity and what police called "calculated organisation" she managed to trick one auction house and art dealer after another.

She would pay for high-value items with personal cheques without the money to support them, and the cheques would later bounce.

If a shop said it would have to wait for a cheque to clear, she threatened to call off the sale as she was leaving the country or had wanted the item for a specific occasion.

Under threat of losing a valuable sale staff would often obtain permission to hand the goods over.

Unpaid rent

Prestigious auction houses including Sotheby's, Bonhams and Christie's all fell foul of her act.

But her appearance of a wealthy, well-educated, articulate woman was all the more plausible because it was not entirely false.

Marsh's collection included items by famous jewellers Tiffany and Cartier

She lived in flats in the Docklands, Isle of Dogs, Bayswater and Mayfair.

She had been educated in Paris, spoke fluent French and slipped into the genteel, well-heeled world of art easily.

But during this time she was collecting incapacity benefit, saying she had lymphatic cancer. She also owes an estimated £25,000 in unpaid rent to various landlords.

She moved from flat to flat, first paying a deposit but quickly falling behind and staying as long as she could before she was eventually evicted.

The police say she would create stories and invent civil disputes between her and her landlord both to prolong her stay and give herself an air of plausibility.

It was this which enabled her to keep going for so long. Police say shop assistants were shocked to discover they had been tricked, saying they had warmed to her and believed her stories.

Expensive haul

She was so credible that if she revisited a place she had already conned, they would believe a banking error had occurred and do business with her again - only for the same thing to happen once more.

But as her activities escalated they attracted more interest, and police eventually picked her up in April last year.

Despite the fact that there is a lot of money about, people don't like to ask or be asked if they have proof they can support a cheque Det Insp Ella Marriott

During the investigation they found a trail of offences leading back to 2001.

Officers found a key to a safety deposit box that contained 150 items of jewellery worth £770,000 by famous names such as Cartier, Tiffany, Dior and Boucheron.

Later on, a storage facility in Docklands was uncovered by police. In it was stolen art, antiques and jewellery worth over £1m.

The haul included Louis XIV chairs and a diamond ring worth £100,000.

While out on bail, Marsh continued to trick dealers out of their goods until police successfully managed to get her held on remand so she did not re-offend.

More than £1m worth of furniture, antiques, art and jewellery was found

Det Insp Ella Marriott of the Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART), who ran the investigation, said Marsh may have got away with her fraud for so long because the rather polite and genteel art world was very trusting and this type of crime was rare.

"It's a different world," she said. "There are sums of money involved that may seem huge to ordinary people but in terms of auction houses were fairly low key.

"And despite the fact that there is a lot of money about, people don't like to ask or be asked if they have proof they can support a cheque. It's all very polite."

But she also admits that when staff realised they had been tricked, embarrassment may have made them reluctant to come forward.

Remained silent

Regulations for trading in auction houses have now been tightened and many now refuse to accept cheques.

Police still are not certain what triggered Marsh to start committing her crimes as she remained silent about her activities throughout the latest investigation.

But in September 2007 the 52-year-old did plead guilty to two counts of obtaining property by deception, and in July of this year she admitted a further 16 counts of obtaining goods by deception, concealing criminal property and fraud by false representation.

Marsh did initially plead not guilty to a further 23 counts last week, but she later changed her plea and admitted 20 counts. A further charge was discontinued and two others were left on file.

Detectives believe she was keeping hold of her haul until "the heat was off" and she could sell it to furnish her pension fund and enjoy a luxury retirement.