NASSAU| A pregnant Royal Bahamas Defence Force marine, who resorted to fraud to reportedly get money to care for her 11-year-old disabled son, was yesterday jailed for one year.
Anna Marie Linden, 32, of Fritz Lane, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a forged document, two counts of uttering a forged
document, two counts of fraud by false pretenses and one count of attempted credit by fraud at her arraignment before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans.
Linden got loans totaling $9,901 from Auto H&L and attempted to obtain a credit card with a $5,000 limit in February, the court heard.
Linden received separate loans of $5,901 and $5,000 from the company on February 7, prosecutor Sergeant Bridgette Strapp told the court.
However, the company’s accountant became suspicious after no payments were made by salary deduction. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s internal unit confirmed that no employment letter was ever issued, Strapp said.
On February 13, Linden applied for a credit card at Commonwealth Bank, but the loan officer learned her job letter was fraudulent after querying its authenticity, Strapp said.
Defense lawyer Lennox Coleby said Linden was solely responsible for the care of her son, who is unable to walk. He said the child required a full body brace that costs thousands of dollars whenever he grew half an inch.
Coleby said that Linden fell into depression after a second child died 12 days after birth. Coleby said that Linden was expecting again.
Coleby pleaded, “Please don’t let the baby be born in prison. The baby didn’t do anything.”
But Vogt-Evans said while she felt sorry for Linden that didn’t excuse her actions.
She said, “You made a conscious decision and for that you must be punished. I feel sorry for your child and your unborn children because you ought to know better. I have no choice but to convict you.”
Vogt-Evans imposed concurrent sentences of one year on each count.
