Disgraced Edinburgh court boss who posed as female escort to con men avoids prison
Moffat conned victims into sending him cash by pretending to be a sex worker named "Danielle"
A former sheriff court custody manager who pretended to be a female escort to swindle cash from men he met online has been spared a custodial sentence.
Lee Moffat conned his victims into sending him money after pretending to be a sex worker named ‘Danielle’ who was willing to send them naked images and videos.
Moffat, 29, also told the seven men he would meet up with them and provide escort services during the sordid online contact over a two year period between 2016 and 2018.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the fraudster had attempted to rake in between £50 and £200 from each man but had only made a total of £200 from the scheme.
The court heard the escort scam was only discovered after police raided Moffat’s home in Armadale, West Lothian, during an investigation into missing items from the sheriff court.
Moffat was found to have stolen police equipment including a stab-proof vest and batons from the police staff room at the court while he was employed as a GeoAmey custody manager.
He also pilfered a warrant card, a utility belt, lanyards and a Crown Office ID card from the office over a nine-year period.
The disgraced court boss was caught in possession of a black fleece jacket with a police badge sewn on and the indictment stated the offences were “calculated to suggest you were a constable”.
He was sacked from his managerial position and subsequently jailed for 12 months when he pled guilty to the thefts at Livingston Sheriff Court in January last year.
Moffat returned to the Edinburgh court last month where he pled guilty to forming a fraudulent scheme and obtaining money by pretending to be a female named Danielle on various platforms between October 31, 2016 and October 23, 2018.
Allegations of Moffat obtaining sexually-explicit images from the seven victims was dropped by prosecutors prior to his guilty plea being accepted by the Crown.
Fiscal depute Mark Keane told the court police officers had discovered WhatsApp chats between Moffat and the seven men after seizing his phone in relation to the court theft offences.
Mr Keane said the victims had been duped into believing they were in contact with a female escort named ‘Danielle’ and had been asked to transfer cash in exchange for naked images and videos.
Solicitor Victoria Good, defending, told the court Moffat had only been 20 when he carried out the fraud and had previously worked at the court as as a custody manager.
Ms Good said: “During the investigation last year this matter came to light.
“Mr Moffat used to work in this building, he was a manager with GeoAmey, and matters came to light which involved that job.
“As a result of that, there was an indictment matter at Livingston court and he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.”
The lawyer said Moffat had been released early from his prison term and despite being tagged he had gained employment and is currently working as a driver.
Ms Good said her client continues to be employed as a driver and the amount of money gained from the escort fraud had been “very limited”.
Moffat returned to the dock for sentencing yesterday (THUR) where Sheriff Alistair Noble said: “You have pled guilty to involvement of a fraud which took place between October 2016 and October 2018.
“The charge is obviously very old and only came to light when you were being investigated in a more recent and serious catalogue of offending and for that you were dealt by way of a period imprisonment.
“It doesn’t appear to me prison is necessary here.”
Moffat was sentenced to a community payback order where he will have to carry out 115 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.