Mum posed as Wonderbra model, barrister and cancer victim to steal £61k in series of frauds
Ryley Cruz invented a series of fake identities to con multiple victims over three years
A MUM posed as a Wonderbra model, a barrister and a designer for chef Heston Blumenthal to scam £61,000 in a series of frauds.
Ryley Cruz, 37, conned several victims — and then feigned cancer when they caught her out.
One victim, property developer Steven Wood, lost £34,000 within weeks of meeting her on the “Sugar Daddies” dating website, a court heard.
She told him she was a successful barrister awaiting a £150,000 inheritance but had “short-term cashflow problems”.
Mr Wood, 54, paid her rent on a five-bedroom Regency house in Cheltenham, Gloucs, for her and her teenaged son.
He also gave her £1,500 when she told him she had left her barrister’s wig on a train and needed a new one, a jury heard.
Other victims included a pub landlord, a cafe owner and several estate agents.
Cruz was jailed for five years and three months after admitting 14 fraud charges.
She denied defrauding Mr Wood and claimed he had paid her for sex but was found guilty at Gloucester crown court.
Cruz, of Cheltenham, conned people over three years.
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She had also tricked magazine Grazia into paying her for a feature about her “cancer” in 2008.
And she went to the Birchwood Park Golf Centre in Berkshire posing as a “Wonderbra model” — joining a mayor in releasing 2,000 pink balloons for a breast cancer charity.
Judge Jamie Tabor QC told Cruz: “You are a practiced fraudster.
“You are quite unconcerned about the effects on your victims.”
The judge added: “When your victims became suspicious, you fled.
“And when pursued you would play the ace in your pack — you said you had cancer.
“You even managed to get yourself into one of our leading hospitals by saying you had cancer.
“Naturally, your victims then held back.
“You have shown not one ounce of remorse or regret for any of your offences.
“The word sorry has not been uttered by you once.”
Jason Coulter, defending, asked the court to take into account that “most of the sums extracted by my client have been relatively modest”.