Financial abuse and Police Action Fraud - anyone gone through this?

[Haley86]

Hello,

my ex has pressured me into opening a credit card and leasing a car under my name.
the card was used solely by him for his business, and he ran it higher than I agreed and managed to get the limit doubled.

He promised it will be paid within a week, it’s now been 5 years. This obviously ruined my credit score and I kept asking for him to take care of it.

he has mostly kept with payments, and once we were headed to divorce transferred the business for free to his business partner while promising she(..) will take on the debt.

fast forward and he stopped paying and obviously my credit rating is reaching new lows.
There is about 10k there and I have reported this to the police who were mostly useless saying it’s been 5 years and it’s not physical/verbal violence.
i mostly did that so Amex can investigate it as fraud.

I have now received a CCJ from a car lease company where again he pressured me to be the one named as I was passing the referencing. Again I didn’t want to as he has a history, and a conviction in another country (stupid me believed he was stitched up), and he pressured me until I relented. I never made the payments or communicated with them directly, I didn’t have the money for it.
there are even emails where the company sends him messages to his email and he signs in my name.
I did authorise on the phone he can talk to them, which he is saying is proof it wasn’t abuse or fraud, which is playing with my head, but I felt so powerless at the time as I’ve repeatedly tried to say no and he never gave up until things happened how he wanted.
I believe the car company is also at fault of not recognising this as a potentially harmful situation.

Since the CCJ is pending I have now filed a report online to action fraud. I feel like I have nothing to lose and at the same time I am shaking from fear.
We still live together (I am looking for a job but this ccj might destroy me completely which is what he wants)

Has anyone been through anything similar or filed a report on a spouse? I am in constant stress and I am scared they will side with him as he is very charismatic and convincing.

He is also saying I was part of anything and it wasn’t abuse. I feel like I’m in a nightmare and not sure what to even think anymore.

That sounds dreadful!

Can I ask a few questions to better understand the situation?

Did he take the car recently? Did they not have to sue you and lose in court before you got a CCJ? Did you know the car is under your name and did you approve it? We're you using the car? How do you know of emails he signs your name (were you copied in them or had a copy of did you find them?)

They applied for a CCJ, I believe I have less than 2 weeks to respond.
He also claimed the amount was reduced to 1.6, I have a message from him saying that, now he says it’s 3.5k. They say it’s 5k.

I never made payments towards it nor do I have access to his bank records. I’m not even sure what to do anymore and that’s on top of other things he created for me such as credit card (never used by me) and other nasty stuff which coming up from him.

yes, I did use the car to take the kids to school.
But he had all the interaction with the car company.

He forwarded some of the emails to me at the time.
This was not recently, it was when we were together.
After we separated he took another car under his name. He paid for that one and left this debt to me.

not only that the car got hit but he returned it already (again, all his interactions) and we couldn’t make a claim to the other side insurance as I couldn’t even photograph it, that’s a lot of the debt.

I signed it under extreme pressure, he said it’s tax beneficial when I said we don’t need such an expensive car and what not. Since this was a pattern I tried to resist but he always persisted until I buckled down.

It wasn’t the first or tenth time he did stuff under my name and left debts but as we separated he’s now throwing it all on me.

I am not a stupid person but I know recognise why procedures are or should be in place when people are in a vulnerable position.
one of the examples in economic abuse website talks about something similar, someone being at a bank wanting a loan and the manager suggesting to do under the wife’s name and calling her. Him signing in my name from his email, me having to authorise him talking to them, saying “it’s not me”…It can be innocent but it can very sinister.

Got a solicitor for the divorce? (I think I remember you mentioned it with form E thread that you have?)

Did they suggest contacting the police? What's your goal with that?

Make sure your evidence is solid. Better to rely on your solicitor than MumsNet. If the police didn't help before, think twice before reaching out again.

Know your evidence and what your STBX has. Bringing up old issues mid-divorce isn’t always the best move, even if you're right. Get sound advice, please. not just from us. Timing and strategy matter a lot. It’s tough, but you’ve got this. Stay strong.

I have a lawyer for the divorce, yes.

I am bringing up old stuff because he has stopped paying.
Not only has he financially abused me in taking those debts, he’s now doubling down with not paying which I see is recognised as yet another type of coercive abuse by law.

the lawyer is not directly handling these as they are sort of separate which what I am not sure about.

he has a convocation in another country for credit fraud. I think he is relying on language barrier and his charm.
I will be contacting them again as it is escalating and he is ruining my prospects of finding jobs in my field or renting elsewhere. At this point due to his actions I don’t have much to lose.

There are also other things he did which I did not mention to them as I was so shaken.

my lawyer has supported me contacting the police but they are family/divorce lawyers who don’t specialise in this…

My goal is first of all survival without a CCJ and a credit score which I can rent with, both in grave danger at the moment.

I also refuse to start paying these and taking full liability while he is deliberately accumulating debt until the end of the FDR he is even admitting that’s what he’s doing.
It will then be much harder to say this was abuse and fraud which it was.

Have you spoken to a debt advisor? They could help you deal with the creditors and could present your case.

In terms of going back to the police you need to also think about how you are presenting your case? When you reported this to the police was is an abuse report or a fraud report or both? Did they take a statement and if so did they say what they would do next? This statement is going to be part of any submission you make to your creditors or a court.

I have read your other posts on your situation. You and your ex are still living together. The local council have confirmed your won’t be placed on the waiting List but could rehouse you elsewhere. You also have MH problems and have lost your job. People have given you advice on your housing situation. At the core of which is the concern about you continuing to live with your abuser. He is paying the rent. This is something that means it is very difficult for agencies to help you with any of these issues.

You don’t qualify to go on the council housing list. The Council, Kensington, have told you this. It would be a different situation if you were homeless and for that to be the case you need to leave him or be evicted. Even then they don’t have much by way of accommodation and you could end up in temporary housing for a long time. You need to decide if living in Kensington or anywhere near there is something you need or want.

The bottom line is that you have debt in your name and your creditors are going to action against you. This will be their default policy. A debt advisor will help you explain your situation to them including what is happening with the report you made to the police.

The immediate issue is the lease car. You admit it was leased in your name and you used it. Has it been returned? When you broke up and he stopped paying why didn’t you return it? What was the time frame this all happened in that thousands of pounds of debt have been racked up before the car is returned.