A romance conman who pretended to have cancer to scam his victim out of an estimated £50,000 has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
Scott Fraser, 55, used deception and outright lies to misrepresent his financial position, allegedly claiming he was due to receive a six-figure dividend and had made millions as the founder of an international engineering firm.
It’s understood that Fraser also claimed to be in the process of selling his Oman and Russia-based firm to oil and gas giant Shell in a multi-million-pound deal.
This claim is supported by court documents seen by the Press and Journal.
It was stated today at Aberdeen Sheriff Court that Fraser also pretended to his then-partner to have incurable cancer and only had months to live.
All of these were later found to be lies concocted by Fraser to defraud and control his 54-year-old victim Debbie McFarlane.
Asked how Fraser’s actions have impacted her life, Ms McFarlane – who met Fraser through LinkedIn – said she felt “violated”.
She outlined how Fraser had used lies and pity over his fake illness to trick her into handing over tens of thousands of pounds in cash.
“I’m not the type of person who gets the wool pulled over my eyes,” Ms McFarlane, a professional headhunter, told The Press and Journal.
“For someone to actually target me and become that close, I can’t believe it really happened to me.
“I often ask myself, did I really live through this nightmare – did it really happen?”
‘For him to pretend that he had cancer is awful’
Ms McFarlane said that Fraser pretended to have prostate, testicular and pancreatic cancer, which required expensive stem cell research to be carried out.
He told her his money was tied up in various lucrative business interests, and asked Ms McFarlane to front the money until he received a huge financial dividend.
“For him to pretend that he had cancer is awful,” she told The P&J.
“Scott Fraser is a conman. I came forward and reported him to police because I don’t want this to happen to any other women – this stops here.”
Fiscal depute Ann Mann told the court that Fraser and Debbie McFarlane met in late 2018, telling her soon after that he was “struggling with the news that he had developed cancer”.
In early 2019, Fraser had informed her that this was not the case and misrepresented his financial position to Ms McFarlane to the point that she felt comfortable to lend him the sum of £30,000.
Not all of this was repaid to her, Ms Mann said.
Cancer clinic had no record of treating Fraser
“The accused again stated that he had been diagnosed with cancer and required treatment, which meant he had to travel to Newcastle and to which Ms McFarlane was not allowed to accompany him.
“Throughout this period, the accused’s appearance never changed and this made Ms McFarlane suspicious.
“She phoned the medical practice where the accused had said he was being treated and was informed that there was no record of him as a patient there.”
Ms Mann said that following this, Ms McFarlane gave Fraser a loan of £20,000 – again, seeing very little in return.
When she confronted him about his financial situation, Fraser began talking about suicide, claiming that he’d considered hanging himself “at a lock-up he had in Dyce”.
She stated that, to her mind, Fraser was trying to blame her for the way he was feeling due to her talking to him about money.
Enraged man used knife threat to hold partner prisoner in bedroom
In January 2021, while the couple were out for a meal, Fraser got drunk and flew into a rage when they got home, locking the front door, grabbing a knife from the kitchen and threatening Ms McFarlane with it.
Then he held her prisoner in the bedroom upstairs, taking her phone and refusing to let her leave for five hours.
“The accused continued to scream during this period, until eventually falling asleep, at which point Ms McFarlane left and went to a friend’s address,” Ms Mann said.
She added that on various other occasions, Fraser became physically aggressive toward Ms McFarlane while he was intoxicated.
She also described him as “controlling and belittling” – often questioning her about other males she worked with.
“He would regularly criticise Ms McFarlane about her spending habits, causing arguments in front of friends and ending social engagements so they could return home,” the fiscal depute said.
The relationship ended soon after, with Ms McFarlane contacting the police.
In the dock, Fraser pled guilty to carrying out a course of conduct that was abusive to his then-partner, Debbie McFarlane, by pretending to have cancer, misrepresenting his financial position and abducting her.
Defence solicitor Ian Woodward-Nutt described his client as “deeply ashamed by his disgraceful behaviour towards Ms McFarlane”.
He added: “It is his position that, initially, the relationship was positive, but, of course, it’s a matter of deep regret that Mr Fraser’s behaviour changed and he became, he accepts, abusive towards Ms McFarlane.
“He has asked me to publicly apologise to Ms McFarlane, although, using his words, an apology clearly isn’t enough.
“Nevertheless, he accepts his behaviour was disgraceful and he accepts that it cannot be excused.”
No jail despite for ‘disgraceful liar’
Mr Woodward-Nutt claimed that Fraser had struggled with “poor mental health” and had been “drinking to excess” at the time of his offences.
“It could also be said that Mr Fraser fell into the wealth trap,” he explained.
“He achieved some degree of success in his career and he had begun to enjoy the trapping of the lifestyle that went with that success.
“But as time went on, he felt pressure from peers and colleagues to keep up appearances – and it was against that background that difficulties ensued.”
Mr Woodward-Nutt went on to claim that, of the £50,000 Fraser had borrowed from Ms McFarlane, he had paid back between £20,000 to £22,000.
Sentencing Fraser, Sheriff Rhona Wark told Fraser that his behaviour had been “frankly, so disgraceful” and the “lies that he told” were designed to be coercive, controlling and to obtain money.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Wark sentenced Fraser, of Clarence Mill, Bollington, Cheshire, to a community payback order with supervision for three years and ordered him to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.
She also ordered him to take part in a domestic abuse rehabilitation programme and imposed a non-harassment order, meaning he cannot approach Debbie McFarlane for three years.
Read more:
Exposed – The Aberdeen cancer faker who got a tattoo of a ‘non-existent dead baby’ to con money out of women across the UK
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