A Fife fraudster found guilty of pretending to sell kittens has been told by a sheriff to pay her victims their money back.
Samantha Piaget took £150 from Darren Cooper and £130 from Rebecca Hynd in return for pets they never received because they had already been seized by the Scottish SPCA.
Following a two-day trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Piaget was convicted of two fraud charges.
She told the court she took kittens from a friend in Dunfermline who was in hospital and posted adverts on social media sites like Gumtree at her request.
Two sales were agreed with the customers in spring 2021 and deposits were taken in cash and through Paypal.
But officers from the charity seized the kittens while Piaget was negotiating pickup details with the buyers.
The 25-year-old mother appeared in the dock this week for sentencing.
Sheriff Francis Gill made a compensation order for Piaget to pay back the swindled money and told her to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.
He said: “The court regards this as serious, involving deceit on your part.”
Defence lawyer Jaclyn Robertson said Piaget, who is unemployed, still denies fraud and maintains she intended to follow through with the sales of the kittens.
Texts ignored
During the trial, fraud victim Darren Cooper said he and his partner had spotted kittens advertised on Facebook and agreed to meet the sellers in Lochgelly.
He paid £150 in cash to Piaget.
He said they were told they would have to wait four or five weeks before seeing and taking home their new pets.
The 52-year-old said Piaget did not reply to his texts when collection time came.
He went to a property in Lochgelly in the hope of collecting the kittens but a man there told him to go to an address in Dunfermline’s Lauder Street.
Mr Cooper said a male at the address told him the kittens had been stolen and it had been reported to police.
He said Piaget told him she did not have the money to refund him.
Mr Cooper said: “The man was really angry and I felt that it was not really safe.
“I felt we were possibly in danger and at that point, I wanted to leave and Samantha said she would give the money back that Friday but that never happened”.
Mr Cooper reported the matter to police and never received any kittens.
Procurator fiscal depute Catherine Stevenson referred to a series of WhatsApp messages between Mr Cooper and Piaget.
One referred to him asking her for a refund, with Piaget replying the kittens had been removed by the Scottish SPCA.
‘Strange’ situation
Student veterinary nurse Rebecca Hynd, 24, told the court she lost £130 to Piaget.
She found an online advert for a litter and made enquiries through Facebook Messenger.
Ms Hynd said she went to a property in Crosshill to visit the kitten at the door – it was during the pandemic – and paid a deposit over PayPal.
“I was asked for additional money to pay for a vaccine.
“That’s when alarm bells started to ring as I assumed the deposit would cover the vaccine and worming costs.
“I believe this was around £40. I believe I did pay the money and it was also through PayPal.
“I asked for regular updates and photos – which were provided – and had already discussed a date of collection.
“I got two or three updates over the space of four weeks. I was satisfied with that.”
However, when it came to collection time, she was told to go to the Dunfermline address and was greeted by a man who “seemed very angry”.
Ms Hynd said she messaged Piaget as the situation seemed “strange”.
She asked for her deposit back and said she would contact police unless refunded.
She said: “I did not get the kitten from Samantha or the refund.”
Deception
Piaget, of Castle Avenue in Crosshill, said she had taken the kittens from her friend, their owner, while she was in hospital.
She said she advertised them online at her request, arranged buyers and visits and took deposits.
By the time it came to collection, Piaget said the kittens were back with their breeder and she found out Scottish SPCA officers had raided the friend’s house two days before police spoke to her in May 2020.
However, the raid actually took place in mid-March.
Whatsapp messages dated after that outlined collection details to customers.
Despite telling police she had agreed repayment plans, the money was never returned and Piaget said she had been blocked by one of the customers.
Sheriff Gill found Piaget guilty of pretending to sell two kittens for agreed sums of money between February and April last year and obtaining money by fraud.
The sheriff said he found the victims to be credible and reliable but found “inconsistencies” in Piaget’s story.
