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urgent advice needed please

smurphy1982
Posts: 5 Forumite
Urgent advice needed
I hold my hands up I’ve been stupid, but I’m looking to resolve it so please don’t be horrible J I owed a lady some money and told her I was going to set up a standing order into her account, this was really just to get her off my back and buy me some extra time to pay her. She said she didn’t receive the money, so I amended my bank statement to show her I did pay the money, I then told her the bank must of put it in the wrong account and she thinks I’m chasing it up with the bank, I’m working two jobs to get the money to pay her back so she will get her money and I feel awful for lying, but I’ve got children to feed and bills to pay and I was just so desperate to get her off my back for a bit. Anyway, she’s found out that I amended my bank statement and says she is going to call the police because its fraud. I’ve never been in trouble with the police or anything before, I know it’s fraud and I know I am wrong, and I’m trying to agree some monthly instalments with here were I pay her cash..... what can the police do?? Will they arrest and charge me for fraud? Shall I call the police first and tell them what I done? Maybe then they could see that I was just a desperate single mum looking for a break and I’ve learnt my lesson?
As I said, I’m not trying to scam this woman, I’m moving heaven and earth to get her the money or at least a substantial amount, but she said she’s calling the police tonight, she has a copy of the statement I gave her, so yeah...... I’m extremely worried, any advice on what I should do next would be wonderfully appreciated
I hold my hands up I’ve been stupid, but I’m looking to resolve it so please don’t be horrible J I owed a lady some money and told her I was going to set up a standing order into her account, this was really just to get her off my back and buy me some extra time to pay her. She said she didn’t receive the money, so I amended my bank statement to show her I did pay the money, I then told her the bank must of put it in the wrong account and she thinks I’m chasing it up with the bank, I’m working two jobs to get the money to pay her back so she will get her money and I feel awful for lying, but I’ve got children to feed and bills to pay and I was just so desperate to get her off my back for a bit. Anyway, she’s found out that I amended my bank statement and says she is going to call the police because its fraud. I’ve never been in trouble with the police or anything before, I know it’s fraud and I know I am wrong, and I’m trying to agree some monthly instalments with here were I pay her cash..... what can the police do?? Will they arrest and charge me for fraud? Shall I call the police first and tell them what I done? Maybe then they could see that I was just a desperate single mum looking for a break and I’ve learnt my lesson?
As I said, I’m not trying to scam this woman, I’m moving heaven and earth to get her the money or at least a substantial amount, but she said she’s calling the police tonight, she has a copy of the statement I gave her, so yeah...... I’m extremely worried, any advice on what I should do next would be wonderfully appreciated
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Comments
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Ok, bit scary, but try not to panic too much - can I ask what you owe this lady and who is she? just a random woman? I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable people will be along soon to help but for now calm down
xxx
Life is too short not to love what you do.0 -
Ok, the one thing I would say is that the act of changing the statement in itself was not an act of fraud - you did not benefit financially from doing it - but it may be covered under falsification of records. My advice would be to call the lady, apologize profusely, and offer anything you have right now - even if it is £10. Then, ask her for one more chance to meet your obligations. At the end of the day, she can go to the police but they cant make you pay what you dont have.0
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Who is the woman?Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.0
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Do you have a relationship with this lady, friend, friend of friend etc?
Did she lend you the money?
Did you agree how it would be paid back when she lent it to you?
The police won't be interested if she lent you the money as it is a civil matter.
If you stole or swindled the money then it would have been a police matter.0 -
Hi
Try not to panic
How much do you owe this person and what do you owe them for?
How much could you afford to repay them right now? how much could you afford each month?
How much was the standing order you claimed you had set up?A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who giveor "It costs nowt to be nice"0 -
Ok, the lady is my daughters old nursery manager, its for arrears I owe, over the three year period my daughter was there, I accumulated a debt of £2000 which included late fee's etc. She was calling me, turning up to my house, my work and I freaked out, I was embarrassed and didn't want my family or friends knowing i'd got into this much trouble with money. So, so she'd leave me alone, I made up some story that I came into the money and I would deposit it as a single payment into her account, she gave me all the details and then I heard nothing for ages, until, obviously, when she checked all her statements she realised I did not pay her. I then told her I had proof of payment (to buy me some more time) and copied and pasted my online bank statement into a word document and amended it to look like i'd paid her. I told her i'd take it up with my bank as it must have gone into the wrong account........anyway weeks later my story didn't add up (all liars get caught eventualy i suppose) and she added up the figures and told me she knows that I falsified the bank statement to keep her quiet for a few more weeks and that she was furious and was calling the police. I've tried to arrange a payment plan with her, all I can afford is around £200 per month and that is really me cutting back and scraping the barrel. She must have some sense of how poor I am at the moment, my childrens dad left us a few months ago and he was working and providing for us, i've since got myself into so much debt for not being able to keep up repayments, work in the day then do a cleaning job in the night, i am trying so hard and just fell on desperate times.Thanks for all your help, i've calmed down slightly now :-)0
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Why dont you explain to her that you panicked as you are now single, and that you can afford to pay her £150 a month. Would she take you to court if you offered her a lot less than that.0
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Right that makes things clearer. I suspect that the police would not be interested in the bank statement and would simply tell the lady to take you to the small claims court.
I think I'd agree that talking to her is a good option, explain you paniced and apologise. Then say you can afford £150 a month and will start paying that straight away.
If she is likely to be aware on your financial problems and that you are now a single parent I'd also be tempted to tell her you are seeking some advice from a debt charity for help with budgeting etc and that if you find you can afford to increase the offer you will. This might demonstrate that you are taking the debt seriously.
You might even want to call her bluff and say that you hope she will accept this offer and not take it to court but if she does take it to court you will ask to pay in installments anyway (and these might be ordered to be less than you are offering now).
I would suggest you seek some advice from a debt charity as it sounds like you have other debts and are falling into debt and it would be best to tackle this now rather than let things get worse.
As an aside have you checked you are getting all the benefits you can now you are single? is children's dad contributing any maintenance or anything for the kids yet?A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who giveor "It costs nowt to be nice"0 -
I agree with the above posts.
Be honest with her. If you could commit to payments of say £150 a month, you would be able to pay her back in just over 13 months.0 -
She turned up at your work? Sounds to me like the police would be more interested in pursuing her under Administration of Justice Act 1970 'Unlawful harrassment of debtors'.
If she got nasty then I'd throw in the 1994 Criminal Justice Act, relating to demanding money with menaces.
Sounds like if she calls the police she's going to get into a lot more trouble than you would. Not going to suggest calling her bluff, but be aware that even though you may owe her a legitimate debt, this does not give her the right to publicly humiliate, embaress you, or otherwise cause you any kind of problem with your work or home life. If she needs to recover the funds she needs to take a route of court action, not resort to idle threats.Debt free, moved, got new stuff for the new flat - got everything I wanted and need - now just saving.0
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