An Australian Woman Is Jailed For Scamming Nigerian SCAMMERS

A YOUNG Brisbane mum did nothing wrong when she ripped off her scam artist employers with links to notorious Nigerian international fraudsters to the tune of $32,350, a court has been told.

However, Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsay, 23, has been jailed but immediately released for her crime of failing to return to the money swindled from to two Queensland-based victims by the international scammers.

Brisbane District Court judge Terry Martin, SC, sentenced Cochrane-Ramsay, 23, to two years jail after she pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court last month to one count of aggravated fraud between March 15 and May 26, 2010.

However, Judge Martin found under the circumstances an actual term in custody was warranted and released Cochrane-Ramsay on immediate parole.

He said Cochrane-Ramsay, then aged 21, unknowingly became employed as an "agent" for a group of Nigerian fraudsters operating a dodgy internet car sales racket under the company name of  "Black Diamond."

The Courier Mail on February 23 revealed Cochrane-Ramsay's job for "Black Diamond" was to provide her personal Australian bank account so they could launder fraudulently obtained money from would-be Queensland buyers attracted to their popular, but bogus car sales website.

The Crown said Cochrane-Ramsay was to keep eight per cent of all money paid into her account and forward the rest to the Nigerian scammers.

Black Diamond turned out to be a bogus company listed as having a web server in New York, which in turn had links to Nigerian scams.

Black Diamond had since been placed on a warning list for scam internet companies.

However, two Queensland-based victims who thought they had bought cars on the internet and paid $14,850 and $17,500 into Cochrane-Ramsay's bank account.

Judge Martin today said Cochrane-Ramsay, instead of sending it on to Black Diamond, kept the money and spent it on living costs and invested $10,000 in a term deposit.

There was still about $16,000 outstanding which was not a loss to Black Diamond but to the complainant buyers, he said.