Mum jailed over fraud charges
A PREGNANT mother of seven leveraged the tragic death of her son to manipulate a woman out of thousands of dollars in a shocking online scam involving expensive puppies.
Townsville mother Gelria Rae Faram advertised British and French bulldogs online and pocketed almost $9000 from four victims between August 2021 and January 2021 – but never delivered the dogs.
Mackay Magistrates Court heard when two of the victims pushed back – including one man she had known for 25 years – she threatened to get bikies onto them.
Faram, 39, exploited one woman for $4655, which was “over and above” the cost of the dog, claiming her husband needed surgery and she could not afford her rent.
In January 2021 Faram was pushing for a new law after her three-year-old son Lucas died when his ventriculoperitoneal shunt failed and an internal Townsville Hospital and Health Service report revealed the little boy would have survived had the health facility completed a CT scan.
Faram later used his death in her appalling manipulation of one of her victims.
“The level of dishonesty here is incredible … and there are so many levels of dishonesty,” Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said.
The court heard Faram, who had seven children, was currently 10 weeks pregnant with twins to a new partner of three months, which Ms Hartigan said was an “extremely irresponsible” decision.
“To become 10 weeks pregnant before she’s sentenced, knowing this is outstanding, beggars belief,” Ms Hartigan said.
Faram’s history is littered with dishonesty offences stretching back 20 years including writing dodgy cheques for accommodation worth more than $5000 and organising to buy a dog but never transferring the money.
When she was arrested over the online dog scam she claimed she only did it under the duress of her former partner – but Ms Hartigan said this was “thoroughly investigated” and found to be untrue.
The court heard she claimed to be using ice at the time of the offending but was now addressing her drug issues with counselling.
She had also moved from Townsville to Mackay.
Faram pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud which also included purporting to sell a mobile phone that was never sent after money was transferred – the fraud totalled about $9400.
Faram was jailed for two years with parole release after serving six months. Convictions were recorded.