Transgender fraudster posed as man and his daughter to take out credit cards and loans

A transgender fraudster made thousands of pounds posing as both a man and a woman to take out credit cards and loans. Frances Harris, 71, of Brighton, born as Frederick, admitted three charges of deception over a three-year period.

Lewes Crown Court heard that she obtained a £15,000 loan in 2003 from the Halifax bank by pretending to be a former business partner called William Coutts. She also obtained a Marks & Spencer credit card in 2004 under the name of Mr Coutts’s daughter, Vanessa.



Harris was charged with making an untrue statement to gain a passport, that of Mr Coutts, which she used as verification for the loan. The court heard that Harris used the money to pay for lavish living. In 2004 she was using a chauffeur-driven Bentley and receipts for expensive jewellery, a cruise and health spas were found when her home was searched.

Miss Coutts and Mr Coutts, with whom Harris had once owned a bar in Spain, had noticed “irregularity” in their bank accounts. Miss Coutts then discovered loans and credit cards had been taken out in her name. Harris was given a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years.