A WOMAN who defrauded her younger brother out of nearly £100,000 had little left, a court has been told.

The available amount for confiscation was only £7,990 which was already subject to a court restraint.

An agreed financial order was signed by Judge Huw Rees under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Mold Crown Court which said Deborah Karen Mills, 46, had a criminal benefit of £96,483.

Should Mills come into money in the future, then the prosecution could go after her for the remainder.

The judge said he had to make an order that she would have to serve an additional 12 months in default of payment – but the money was effectively already under the control of the police.

Mills, of Ffordd Dyfrdwy in Mostyn, was jailed for two years in January. She had admitted theft and fraud.

Her brother was shocked to find his account had been closed and a new one opened in his name without his knowledge, a sentencing hearing was told.

He believed it should contain about £100,000 – but it had only 80p.

Judge Niclas Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court, told her at that stage: “This is a shocking case of betrayal.

“As defined under legal terms you did indeed breach the trust placed in you by your brother but in fact you betrayed him.”

The judge said the victim looked up to her as his older sister to help him manage his bank account.

He wished to save and was concerned that if he had control over his money he would spend and not save.

“What in fact happened was that while he worked hard and deposited his monies into his account over a ten year period, you fleeced him.

“You gained, and he lost, at the very least £79,000.

“He is left with nothing.”

Bizarrely and without explanation from her, she had paid money to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in America.

“This is a very serious matter with far-reaching, serious financial consequences for an equally hard-working younger brother and his family,” the judge said.

Prosecutor Karl Scholz said Mills was 10 years older than her brother Kevin Lee.

When he was in his twenties he asked his sister to look after the bank account so he could save and he received £400 a month to live on.

For nine years and nine months she received all bank cards and statements and assured him that his mortgage was being paid.

She closed his account and opened up another in his name.

Mills used his account as her own, paid her own mortgage from it, paid supermarkets and also made repayments for pay day loans which she took out in his name without his knowledge.

When the victim was alerted to the fact that his mortgage payments had not been met, he found his account had been closed, a new one opened and his balance was 80p – not the £100,000 or so that he had expected.

Mills wrote out a £139,000 cheque but it was returned unpaid

Anna Price, defending, said Mills was a woman of good character who had worked hard all her life.

She had admitted what she had done, although not at the first opportunity.