Alexander Currie jailed for selling partner's Edinburgh home behind her back
A man who stole £80,200 after selling his partner's Edinburgh home behind her back has been jailed for 18 months.
Alexander Currie, 46, fraudulently sold Janette McVicar's property in Edinburgh to pay off a £30,000 personal debt, Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard.
He recruited another woman to pose as Ms McVicar to a firm of Edinburgh-based solicitors.
The woman, whose identity is unknown, told an unsuspecting lawyer she wanted to sell the house at Fernieside Drive.
Currie then persuaded a man called Gareth Davies to apply for a mortgage and buy the house.
After receiving the cash, Currie then paid off his debt to another man.
The scam was only uncovered a few weeks later when Ms McVicar phoned her mortgage provider to see how much she owed.
They told her that the loan had been paid off and that she should contact Campbells Solicitors in Edinburgh.
Lawyer Christopher Campbell told Ms McVicar he thought he had actually dealt with her. Police launched a fraud inquiry and arrested Currie.
Sheriff Paul Arthurson told him that a custodial sentence was "unavoidable".
Currie, from Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to a charge forming a fraudulent scheme to obtain money between January and April 2010.