Shopaholic mum rings up one million pounds debt

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'Being £1m in debt gave me a thrill'

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Zara Gables was just 17 when she applied for her first credit card and splashed out on a £2,000 luxury trip to Barbados.

But it wasn’t long before her spending habit had spiralled to the point where she needed dozens of credit cards and loans.

She enjoyed four five-star holidays a year, paid for lavish meals for all her friends and bought groceries from Harrods.

Shockingly, last year, the shopaholic – with a taste for champagne and Prada – had 50 credit cards maxed out to a total of £50,000 and owed more than £1million in other loans, including mortgages on 10 homes.

But Zara was rumbled when council officers found she’d been claiming thousands in benefits – despite renting out the 10 homes she’d bought using fake payslips.

Zara, 36, who admits she sometimes used her stack of 50 credit cards to play snap with her daughter Tegan, 8, received a 15-month sentence and has had her homes repossessed. Real Life

Speaking exclusively to Closer, Zara, from East Sussex, claims she’d have repaid her debts eventually. Incredibly, she reveals she’s recently secured two new credit cards.

“I didn’t really do anything wrong,” she says naively. “I just needed more time – I could have sold the houses and paid off my debts. And I was entitled to the benefits because I wasn’t actually working.

“I’ll be rich again, although I’ve no idea how – maybe I’ll marry a rich man. I now have two credit cards but I won’t go crazy like before. They’re for essentials such as eating out, because I hate cooking.”

Only child Zara was just seven when she vowed never to be poor, after watching her unemployed mum Rosemary searching the back of the sofa for change to buy a snack.

Well-spoken Zara left school with a few GCSEs. She recalls: “I moved into a flat and started claiming housing benefit and job seeker’s allowance, but it wasn’t enough. Real Life house

“When I turned 17 I received my first credit card from Barclays with a £500 credit limit. Within weeks I’d increased it to £2,000 to pay for a holiday to Barbados with a friend.

“I loved the luxury of having money at my fingertips – one night I bought everyone in the bar a drink.”

At 23, Zara got a part-time job at a nursery but her £50-a-week wages couldn’t maintain her luxury lifestyle, so she applied for more credit cards until she had 50 – six of which were in different names.

She used the aliases Sarah Jane Gravell, Sarah Jane Best, Sarah Jane O’Brien, Sarah Nolan, Tracey Jane Patrick and Tara Garalick. She lied about her financial situation on the applications, moving the debt around to cover monthly repayments.

“I’d go on five-star holidays four times a year,” she giggles shamelessly. “Back home I drank champagne in bars and visited restaurants each evening, paying for friends who were on benefits or in low-paid jobs. My pals didn’t ask where I got the money from.

“I got three BMW X5s worth £20K each in one year and shopped in Harrods. I’d buy £1,000 coats and lent £100K to friends to help them buy homes. It gave me a buzz. Real life

“I also had a £1,000 Prada handbag and five Tag Heuer watches worth £2,000 each, four of which I gave away to friends. I didn’t get a thrill out of buying things for myself – giving it away was more enjoyable.”

Incredibly, Zara, who continued to claim benefits, felt in control. She says: “I was sure I’d get rich somehow and pay it back.”

In 2001, Zara met electrician Sebastian Best, 38, and fell pregnant with Tegan. She says: “Sebastian knew I was in debt but had no idea how much. I decided it was time to try my luck with property.

“I ordered three months of fake payslips from the internet to show I had an annual salary of £35,000 and in October 2001 got a £150,000 mortgage to buy a house to let out.

“Three months later I changed my name by deed poll, bought more payslips and borrowed £179,000 for another house from another building society and so it went on.”

By 2005 she owned 10 properties in the UK, Cyprus and Dubai worth £2million in total, which she rented out.

The rental income partly helped her pay credit card bills and mortgage payments. She moved into one of the houses in Hove with Tegan and let out the other rooms to students.

Zara split with Sebastian when Tegan was two, but the responsibility of being a single mum didn’t stop her reckless spending.

“My mum warned me I’d get arrested, but I didn’t think I’d get caught,” she says. “I used my credit card to buy a Real Life £100K apartment in Dubai and £1,000 diamond earrings for Tegan even though her ears weren’t pierced.”

But in 2007, several of Zara’s tenants defaulted on council tax and an investigation uncovered her six aliases and dodgy credit history.

At the same time, several friends failed to repay money she’d lent and it was discovered she was still claiming benefits.
Zara’s homes and cars were repossessed and she was charged with benefit fraud totalling £18,000 and jailed for 15 months in February 2008. Tegan stayed with Zara’s mother while Zara was in jail.

She says: “I missed Tegan – I told her I was on a cookery course. But the day before my release I had a panic attack. I’d no idea how to survive without a credit card.

“It was time to earn an honest living so I enrolled on a computer science uni course.”
Zara served 16 weeks of her 15-month sentence, but after her release appeared in court again to admit three charges of obtaining money by deception and received a 12-month suspended jail sentence.

Zara now lives in a Housing Association flat on benefits, saying: “The only reminders of my old life are my diamond earrings, necklace and bracelet worth £8K, which I wasn’t asked to give back.”

Unrepentant, she adds: “I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong as I’d have paid the debts back. I don’t owe much on my new cards – I won’t let it get out of control again.”

By Emma Ponsford