A fraudster used her dead daughter as “bait” to con seven people out of almost half a million pounds, the son of one of the victims has revealed.
Susan Goose, 63, manipulated Jennifer Esler into funding a bogus legal battle over an inheritance from a man she claimed had sexually abused her daughter Chloe, who died in a car accident.
Mrs. Esler, 71, a grandmother of six, handed over money for eight years, losing her home, her business and her marriage in the process.
Goose was jailed last month for six years after admitting fraud by false representation between 2011 and 2024 against five victims. Two other fraud crimes were taken into account.
Susan Goose (pictured), 63, manipulated Jennifer Esler into funding a bogus legal battle over an inheritance from a man she claimed had sexually abused her daughter Chloe, who died in a car crash.
Mrs. Esler (left), a 71-year-old grandmother of six, gave away money for eight years, losing her home, her business and her marriage in the process. In the photo: Jennifer Esler and her son Dan Lingwood.
Mrs Esler has now told the Mail: “It will take me a long time to recover from this, if I ever do.”
His son Daniel Lingwood, 27, added: ‘[The sentence] is not sufficient. She will come back out and do the same thing. She has ruined lives and destroyed families. Goose groomed the victims in Norfolk before claiming she needed money for a civil case over an inheritance.
She took £440,000 from them, Norwich Crown Court heard, although the real figure is believed to be higher.
Police found he wasted £130,000 after making 2,600 payments to gambling websites.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing later this year could shed light on where the rest of the money went.
Mr Lingwood believes his mother lost £252,000 in total, although the figure quoted in court was approximately £149,000.
Goose gained Mrs Esler’s trust by paying her son’s rent when he moved into the annexe of their five-bedroom family home in Sheringham, Norfolk, in 2015.
He then told Mrs Esler, a mother of four, how he had lost his own daughter.
Goose later submitted a letter saying she was embroiled in a legal battle over a £40,000 inheritance, but needed £2,000 to fund it.
Mr Lingwood, a management accountant, explained: “She then upped the ante by saying the inheritance was going to end up close to £10m.
‘History passed from an inheritance to [saying] the man he inherited from had sexually abused his daughter. [That] This guy ‘felt bad’ for what he did.
Chloe Goose (pictured), 14, died in 2006 after a car driven by a 19-year-old man crashed into a shop in Hethersett, near Norwich.
‘She was using her daughter as bait. This was the same with everyone. In court I heard this from four people. She sometimes went after the money of the person who had caused the death of her daughter.
Chloe Goose, 14, died in 2006 after a car driven by a 19-year-old man crashed into a shop in Hethersett, near Norwich.
Mr Lingwood and his stepfather had no idea what was happening to Ms Esler until it was suddenly announced in late 2017 that the family home had to be sold because she had not repaid the loans she had taken out to fund the payments. to Goose.
Mrs Esler’s relationship with her partner collapsed amid financial strain and in July she suffered a minor stroke due to stress and worry.
He lost his thriving crab dip business, and a year later he was living in a tiny apartment and relying on food banks to eat.
Explaining why his mother continued to pay, Mr Lingwood said: “She had the option of cutting her losses or continuing to pay in the hope of getting her money back.”
Lingwood raised concerns with police, who investigated the allegations and Goose was arrested on January 5 this year.
After the court case, Detective Dave Block said: “The longevity and extent of his cruelty is astonishing.”
