A WOMAN appeared in court today (December 21) accused of being at the heart of a £620,000 fraud involving orders for 4,000 iPads.

Kirsty Cox is accused of taking payment for the tablet computers, which she falsely claimed she had, magistrates in her home town of Newton Aycilffe, County Durham, were told.

Ms Cox has been charged with five counts of committing fraud by false representation.

All the charges date between May 1 and December 20 this year, with five victims named.

Prosecutor John Garside said the alleged victims are a mixture of private individuals and companies who ordered iPads, some in bulk, from Ms Cox.

It is alleged that Ms Cox, 36, of Hamsterley Road, Newton Aycliffe, made £233,375 from one victim, £191,000 from another and £97,000 from a third.

Two more victims are alleged to have been defrauded by £51,850 and £48,464, with the total of all the fraud charges being £621,689.

Mr Garside said it is alleged that Ms Cox took payment for 4,000 iPads which she claimed to be selling for discount prices that were “attractive but believable”.

The hearing lasted 15 minutes during which time Ms Cox spoke only to confirm her name, date of birth and address.

No pleas were entered and magistrates declined jurisdiction, saying their sentencing powers would not be strong enough if she were convicted.

Ms Cox declined to make an application for bail and has been remanded into custody over the Christmas period while her case is prepared to be sent to crown court.

Ms Cox, who was wearing a grey padded jacket, is due back before Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Friday, December 28.

After the hearing, detectives warned people to be careful when buying supposedly cheap goods for Christmas, and said it is believed that the iPads were being bought by a number of third parties who then sold them on, some at a profit.

Detective Inspector Neil Jones, who is working on the investigation, said: “Unfortunately, there are many people who were expecting to have an iPad or other products in the run up to Christmas who have not received them and have been left out of pocket.

"The end buyers of these items have effectively entered into a contract with the person they handed their money to.

“Whilst we understand these people are victims, their route for redress is through civil law and rather than contacting police, they should seek legal advice about how to get their money back.

“The criminal investigation is focusing around the person who is believed to have orchestrated the fraud.”