A pilates teacher has been given a suspended jail sentence after she pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.

Rhiann Keys, 35 (06.04.84) of Compayne Gardens, West Hampstead, appeared at Harrow Crown Court on Friday, 19 July and was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.

The court heard Keys used credit cards belonging to her friend and client, without her permission, to buy expensive goods and fund her flamboyant lifestyle.

The fraud was carried out between December 2017 and May 2018. During that time, Keys purchased 24 iPhones, to the value of £25,210.94 and car insurance priced at £2,763. She also purchased a dog car seat for her Dachshund and paid for holidays for her friends to Ibiza, including Air BnB rooms. In total, she spent £35,038.85.

The victim eventually noticed invoices for items she had not purchased, and an investigation was opened with the bank, who reclaimed all the monies from Apple.

As a result, in April 2018, Apple brought this to the attention of the police and an investigation commenced.

Detectives from the Met’s specialist crime team discovered Keys had saved the victim’s payment details after she helped her purchase a pilates exercise machine.

Keys was arrested and interviewed on 13 June 2018. She initially denied the offence, until an email confessing to what she had done, was found on her phone, along with all of the invoices for the Apple purchases.

The email had been sent to a friend and detailed the fact she had run up a drug debt and initially embarked on the fraud to pay off her dealers, but after she found it easy, she continued.

Keys pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud at Harrow Crown Court on Friday, 28 June.

Detective Constable Ansah Ossei-Owusu, the officer in the case, said: “Keys took advantage of the trust placed in her by her client, who was also her friend.

“The fraudulent purchases were used to fund a flamboyant lifestyle including luxury items such as a dog car seat and holidays for her friends.

“Members of the public are advised to check receipts against statements carefully and contact your card company immediately if you find an unfamiliar transaction.”

Leave a Reply