In the days following the crash it emerged that Violet owed her stockbroker £1m, had borrowed thousands of pounds from her ex-fiancé and hundreds from a widowed neighbour.
She had conned people into believing she would inherit huge sums of money on her 25th birthday, and that they would be richly rewarded for giving her loans.
The ill-gotten gains had been used to fund her and her family’s lavish lifestyle.
They owned a country house near Bangor, in Wales, stayed in expensive hotels and Violet wore diamonds, furs and had a passion for fast cars.
And then there was Violet’s obsession with Scotland.
According to Lady Swindlers’ in-house historian, Prof Rosalind Crone, she had been renting a country house near Inverness.
The property was decked out in tartan and Violet bought bagpipes and wore Highland dress.
She owned an auto-piano – an autonomous musical instrument – and it played Scottish music on repeat.
Prof Crone says this had all played a part in Violet’s carefully constructed image to appear wealthy.
