court cases our reporters have covered in February 2021. A prolific crook took the lead role in an audacious fraud which targeted luxury Lake District hotels, shops and restaurants.Sonia Malhi, 39, who had more than 100 previous convictions, travelled from her Greater Manchester home and headed up the scam to dupe businesses across Cumbria during January last year.This involved the use of stolen receipts from card terminal transactions made by innocent members of the public whose accounts were also then plundered.As accomplices used devious distraction techniques at numerous premises, Malhi covertly sought to enter card numbers manually, paying for expensive rooms at luxury hotels, splashing out on £75 bottles of champagne and requesting.
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