Woman jailed for £2m auction con

Marsh was an obsessive collector of beautiful things, court told

A fraudster has been jailed for six years for bouncing cheques worth £2m in Europe's top auction houses.

Shahra Marsh, 52, convinced staff at Bonhams, Christie's and Sotheby's she was part of Europe's "jet set", London's Southwark Crown Court heard.

But it was only after designer clothes, jewellery, paintings and antiques had been handed over that her unpaid cheques arrived, the court was told.

Sentencing her, Judge James Wadsworth QC said she showed very little remorse.

'Financial difficulty'

The woman, also known as Shahra Sylvia Marsh de Savigny, befriended auction staff and lavished champagne on shop assistants to gain their trust, the court heard.

She outbid rivals at auction then either picked up the goods in person or had them shipped to rented addresses in London.

A diamond ring worth £100,000 and a Napoleon III bureau were among the haul.

Michael House, defending, said Marsh grew up in a wealthy family in Tehran surrounded by beautiful things.

Part of the huge haul of luxury goods recovered by police

When her family ran into financial difficulty in the 1980s she moved to England and married a wealthy property developer but divorced in 2001 and ran out of money, he said.

"She is an obsessive collector of beautiful things.

"These are not crimes committed for monetary gain, they are committed for the sheer pleasure of ownership."

Marsh admitted 20 charges of fraudulently obtaining and concealing goods between 2005 and 2007.

She previously admitted 18 similar counts at earlier court appearances.

Last September police uncovered £1m of goods from a lock-up in London's Docklands and officers estimated she stole items worth up to £2m.

Judge James Wadsworth QC said: "You indulged in premeditated and manipulative behaviour."