Woman defrauded family in Hollywood acting scheme

A woman has been convicted of defrauding her family out of £35,000 with bogus claims about her connections to the Hollywood film industry.

Ann Dunlop, 68, told relatives and her husband that a woman she knew was being lined up for lucrative acting deals.

Dunlop convinced her brother, David Brunton, 51, to provide cash to help the woman make a career breakthrough.

She was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court, with sentence deferred until the end of the month.

The court heard that Dunlop, from Beauly in the Highlands, told Mr Brunton, her husband Steven and sister Jean that the woman was mingling with stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Beyonce, as well as being managed by US entertainment executive Irving Azoff.

Steve said he had believed his wife and the woman led a "movie-type of lifestyle" in the London flat the three of them shared. But the court heard how Dunlop requested that Steven and Jean pay her and the woman's gas and council tax bills as she did not have enough money.

Dunlop was found guilty of defrauding her family to a total of £35,368 at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Kevin McCarron said: "I'm driven to the conclusion that what she was telling her family was a work of fiction worthy of every one of the screenwriters or playwrights mentioned in this case.

"It is clear she led her family down a merry dance through this episode.

"She perpetrated a pretence that was clearly false to everyone."

The court heard that during the trial that the woman had appeared in a non-speaking role in a BBC period drama as well as a TV show starring comedian Noel Fielding.

Mr Brunton - a chief executive of a life science company - was approached by Dunlop and the woman in March 2016 after he sold his business.

He stated that he handed over £5,000 to the pair in order for the actress to "build her career".

Mr Brunton told the court that he was informed by Dunlop that the woman was being represented by Irving Azoff, with suggestions of meetings with Beyonce, Jay Z, Quentin Tarantino and Michael Keaton.

Mr Brunton was told the woman had gone to the Oscars to make connections in the industry and that she would appear in "promotional activity" for Chanel.

The family were also told that the woman was set to star in a movie version of the musical Wicked, directed by Tim Burton.

Mr Brunton said he was unaware of the figure the woman was due to receive but believed it was millions of pounds.

He gave the pair a further £27,000 as he heard that Dunlop and her husband were "struggling." Mr Brunton also paid a council tax and gas bill for them.

He was not paid back and his suspicions increased after the woman failed to appear in a Chanel Christmas advert in 2016.

Mr Brunton said his fears were confirmed after he hired a private investigator to keep tabs on the woman.

He said internet searches suggested the woman had "no career" in the film industry.

Dunlop's husband Steven said the woman shopped at Harrod's and went to handbag stores in London.

He paid for Dunlop's £600 gas bill in November 2016 before transferring £1,000 of his overdraft to her as "she said she didn't have enough money".

He claimed she told him he would be repaid in two weeks.

Steven told the court: "The explanation was there was a large sum of money in Coutts bank but it was put in an investment fund and it was not available immediately but it would be sorted out."

He stated that he was later told by Dunlop that Tim Burton had collected the woman's bank cards and put them in a safe.

Steven added: "I thought I had married into the Waltons ... I didn't know I had actually married into the Dingles."

He described woman's acting career as the "best kept secret than the nuclear codes at Faslane".

Dunlop told the court she believed the woman did star in the roles she had been informed about.

She claimed she asked for money from her family as her husband became unwell and had to stop working.

Dunlop told the court that the woman is to appear on a US TV show which she has filmed one episode of so far and that she intended to pay David back.