Jail for man who misled wife over £120,000 loan

A HUSBAND who twice re-mortgaged the home he shared with his wife without her knowledge to pocket £120,000 has been jailed for eight months.

Fraser Donaldson, 54, who lives in Saughton, was branded a “conman” by his wife of 13 years after leaving her in financial ruin and living in a caravan park.

Donaldson’s wife Linda knew nothing of the fraud until debt collectors turned up at her home in Angus on her birthday asking about a deal apparently bearing her signature.

Mrs Donaldson was a wealthy widow with a house, a new car and a healthy bank account when the couple met in 1997. Now she has been forced to sell off her jewellery and family heirlooms in a desperate bid to make ends meet.

Donaldson, of Stevenson Drive, admitted that between August 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010, at Sanderson Place in Newbigging, Angus, he pretended to Birmingham Midshires Plc that his wife had signed a mortgage application and induced the firm to process an application, thereby obtaining a 
re-mortgage to the value of £120,000 by fraud.

At Arbroath Sheriff Court yesterday, Sheriff Peter Paterson told Donaldson: “I’m not satisfied with the explanations you have given.”