Con artist, 63, used her dead daughter as ‘bait’ to swindle £440,000 from seven well-wishers

A con artist who swindled people out of nearly half a million pounds used her dead daughter as ‘bait’, the family of one of her victims revealed today/yesterday(THUR).

Heartless Susan Goose manipulated kindly Jennifer Esler into bankrolling a bogus legal battle for an inheritance from a ‘wealthy man’ she claimed had sexually abused her daughter Chloe, who died in a car crash in 2006.

The conniving 63-year-old convinced grandmother-of-six Mrs Esler, 71, to hand money over for eight years – losing her house, business and husband in the process – before she was finally brought to justice.

She has now been jailed for six years after admitting fraud offences against five victims and asking for two others to be taken into consideration, although she will only serve half the time.

Mrs Esler, who says she suffered a mini-stroke as a result of her ordeal, told the Mail: ‘I just don’t know how one person could bring so much pain and misery, not just to myself and family but to all the other victims in this case. 

Grandmother-of-six Mrs Esler (left), 71, handed over money for eight years – losing her house, business and marriage in the process. Pictured: Jennifer Esler and her son Dan Lingwood

‘How she could blame all her wrongdoings on her dead daughter was the worst. She preyed on my day in and day out with all her lies.’

Mrs Esler’s son Daniel Lingwood, 27, who was left with nowhere to live when his mother’s house was seized by creditors, accused Goose of callously using her late daughter as ‘bait’.

He added: ‘Three years is not enough. It’ll be gone in no time. She’ll be back out and she’ll be doing the same thing.

‘I want to make sure people know she’s ruined lives and destroyed families.’

Goose approached her victims in Norfolk and would tell them she needed money for a civil case over an inheritance allegedly owed to her. She backed the story with falsified documents including emails and claim forms.

Victims were also shown fake items from a solicitor, banks and even the High Court that she said were involved with her case.

She took £440,000 from those who fell under her sway, Norwich Crown Court heard, although the actual figure is believed to be even higher.

Officers investigating the fraudulent activity found she had blown £130,000 in 2,600 payments to gambling websites. Where the rest of the money went may become clear in a Proceeds of Crime hearing later this year.

Mr Lingwood said he had calculated his mother, who has four sons, lost £252,000 in total to Goose, although the figure used in court was around £140,000.

The defendant got her claws into his mother from 2015 after her son, Danny, moved into the annexe of Mrs Esler’s five-bedroom family home in Sheringham, Norfolk.

She ‘started the process of gaining trust’ by paying his rent before one day producing a letter stating showing she was locked in a legal battle for a £40,000 inheritance but needed £2,000 to fund it.

‘It started off with a couple of grand for the inheritance, then she upped the ante saying the inheritance was going to end up near enough to £10 million,’ said Mr Lingwood, a management accountant, who was unaware of his mother’s misery for years.

‘This person’s name was never given because there was a non-disclosure agreement signed.

‘The story went from an inheritance to the guy she was inheriting from had sexually abused her daughter, Chloe. This guy ‘felt bad’ for what he did. Obviously, he never existed.

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

‘Goose said she’d found out what had happened because she went to his home when he was on his death bed and found some pictures she ‘wished she’d never seen’.

‘She said she’d been caring for this man – cleaning and looking after him after his wife died. The kids would go there all the time and this was when the abuse happened.

‘She was using her daughter as bait. This was the same with everyone – in court I heard this from four people. Sometimes she was chasing the money from the person who had caused her daughter’s death.’

Chloe was just 14 when she and a 19-year-old man she was in a car with died after it veered into a shop in Hethersett, near Norwich, in July 2006.

Paying tribute to her at the time, Goose said: ‘She made everyone laugh and was always happy. She had a wonderful life and lived it to the full.

‘She had so many hopes and dreams for the future and lived it to the full.’

Goose added Chloe’s brothers Danny and Jamie, aged 17 and 15 respectively at the time, would ‘never forget her’.

But the tragedy would become Goose’s cash cow just a few years later.

In Mrs Esler’s case, the tales of a rapidly growing inheritance and Goose’s battle with the dead abuser’s cruel family who didn’t want to hand any money over meant more and more money was needed.

‘It got to the stage where mum had to take out loans, obviously against the house,’ said Mr Lingwood.

‘There were over 200 transactions to Goose. Initially it was all cash – nearly £200,000 – before it turned into bank transfers.

‘It was anything mum could afford. She’d start at a figure, saying she needed this much, and it would settle on whatever mum could afford at the time.’

He and his stepfather had no idea what was happening until it was suddenly announced in late 2017 that the family home had to be sold.

‘My stepdad had a one-bedroom flat that he was renting out in Sheringham. They moved into that. I had nowhere to live, so I moved in with my girlfriend. We had only been going out a few months at the time.

‘My mum and stepdad’s relationship broke down because she was still giving money to Goose. She then moved in with her sister and then had a mini-stroke from all the stress and worries in July 2019. She was left weak and frail.’

Mrs Esler lost her thriving crab dressing business, taking the crustaceans from local fishermen and selling them prepared to local restaurants and pubs.

Around a year later she had moved into a tiny flat in the area where she relied on food banks to eat because she had no money.

Mr Lingwood said Goose was still demanding money, even at this point.

Describing how his savvy mother could have fallen for the scam, he said: ‘You’ve got someone who’s come into your life, trustworthy as they’re paying their son’s rent, and giving you the story of their life, including the car crash which gains sympathy.

‘My mum would help anyone and she saw the inheritance battle as a temporary help situation for £2,000. But that became a lot of money and she couldn’t afford to lose the money, so she had the option of cutting her losses or continuing to pay in the hope she’d get her money back.

‘I spoke to Goose hundreds of times – she comes across as some normal, older lady but she’s a compulsive liar who preyed on my mum. Goose sees people who are kind-natured and willing to help someone and sees that as an opportunity.’

After becoming aware of his mother’s plight, Mr Lingwood and his partner spent two years compiling evidence. But they were unable to take action because solicitors advised them it was a civil case and the family didn’t have the funds to fight it through the courts.

Goose’s downfall began in November last year, when Mr Lingwood wrote to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime.

Details were passed to Norfolk Police and a detective visited the family on Christmas Eve.

The case against her moved rapidly after that, with her arrest on January 5 and a further arrest 11 days later when more victims had been identified. A search of her address in Norwich found no correspondence or documentation relating to an inheritance battle or civil court case.

Goose appeared at Norwich Crown Court on April 26, having previously admitted five counts of fraud by false representation in relation to a number of incidents between 2011 and 2024. The two other offences were taken into account when she was sentenced.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable Dave Block said: ‘Goose’s offending was a gross abuse of trust and an example of exploitation at its worst.

‘She has shown no remorse throughout this case. Her propensity for dishonesty and the longevity and extent of her ruthlessness is staggering.

‘I am proud of each of her victims for bravely assisting with this investigation. I hope that this sentence provides them with a level of closure and that they can begin to rebuild their lives.’

That’s easier said than done, however, for Mr Lingwood, who said he went through periods of feeling suicidal and his mother, who has been left living a hand-to-mouth existence while also struggling to pay £100 a month under an Individual Voluntary Arrangement.

He said: ‘Susan stole my youth and forced me to grow up before my time. The financial and emotional position she has left my mother in absolutely sickens me.

‘I have felt a lot of anger, sadness and confusion. Every time I see my old family home, I am reminded of everything we lost.’

His mother added: ‘It will take me a long time to recover from this, if ever.’