Sisters spared jail after impersonating murdered millionaire Carole Waugh and spending her fortune on luxury shopping trips Millionairess Carole Waugh was murdered in her Marylebone flat in 2012 Debra Burke and Elaine Perkins borrowed money and shopped as Ms Waugh Perkins altered appearance to trick solicitors into approving £200,000 loan Sisters given community service as they were 'fooled' by charming killer Rakesh Bhayani found guilty of murder and jailed for 27 years in November A pair of sisters who posed as murdered millionaire Carole Waugh to take out a loan on her flat and enjoy luxury shopping sprees at Selfridges were spared jail today. Elaine Perkins, 52, and Debra Burke, 49, were given a suspended jail sentence and community service respectively, after being found guilty of impersonating Ms Waugh after her death. Burke and Perkins, both from Essex, were hired by convicted killer Rakesh Bhayani to take out loans and cash cheques on Ms Waugh's account. Fraudsters: Elaine Perkins, 52, and Debra Burke, 49, both from Essex, pretended to be murdered millionaire Carole Waugh (pictured (to defraud banks and shops Perkins even altered her appearance with coloured contact lenses in order to trick solicitors into approving a £200,000 loan on Ms Waugh's Marylebone apartment. A court heard that the sisters did not know that Ms Waugh, 49, had been brutally murdered by Bhayani, 41, in a calculated plan to raid her bank accounts to clear his gambling debts. While the pair went shopping with Ms Waugh's credit cards, the millionairess" body was locked up in a car boot for three months before Bhayani and his accomplice, Nicholas Kutner, were caught. Bhayani was jailed for 27 years for murder, fraud and perverting the course of justice. Kutner was sentenced to 13 years for perverting the course of justice by helping to cover up the killing and fraud. Killer and right-hand man: Rakesh Bhayani, 41, was found guilty of killing Carole Waugh and sentenced to 27 years in jail, while his accomplice Nicholas Kutner was jailed for 13 years The two women were convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey, but Recorder Martyn Levett said he believed they had both been taken in by the charms of Bhayani and Kutner. He said Perkins had been 'blinded' by a wishful-thinking mantra she had read in a book, while Burke accepted Bhayani's lies because she was desperate for friendship. 'You had no knowledge of Carole Waugh's untimely death, and no doubt had either of you had that knowledge, you may not have become involved in this particular fraud', he said. The fact being revealed to you was the greatest shock of all, you were tied up and dragged into something like this. 'Being dragged into it makes this case unusual if not exceptional - it shows Rakesh Bhayani and Nicholas Kutner were involved in a cruel plan to defraud Carole Waugh's entire finances.' Bhayani killed Ms Waugh at her £600,000 flat in April 2012, before setting into motion a complex fraud while her body lay undiscovered in the south London lock-up. With the help of Kutner, 48, he recruited Perkins and Burke to pose as Ms Waugh to fool shop assistants, bank clerks, and solicitors. 'They [Kutner and Bhayani] are both expert conmen, very good at lying, and gambling addicts', said Patrick Gibbs QC, prosecuting. They are life-long fraudsters with a terrible lengthy list of serious criminal convictions for defrauding people. The Crown certainly agrees that they were heartless, calculating, and plausible, and could be, when they chose to be, extremely charming. Killed: Carole Waugh, 49, was murdered in her £600,000 flat in Marylebone, after which her body was locked in a car boot for three months before Bhayani and Kutner were caught Perkins was the most heavily involved in the fraud efforts, and was recorded on a phone call to a bank being prompted by Bhayani as to the correct security questions. She fraudulently organised a £200,000 bridging loan from Cheval Finance with Ms Waugh's flat as collateral in early May, and also set up an account at the Money Shop for cashing cheques. In June, she made an application to Tesco Personal Finance for a fixed sum loan, then set up a bank account with First Direct. She also tried to sell Ms Waugh's British Aerospace shares, and applied for bank transfers from a Halifax account in the heiress' name. Burke, aided by her sister, went shopping on June 27 as Ms Waugh to Selfridges where she registered for a store card. They went shopping again on July 13, to Westfield Shopping Centre, where Burke bought two bottles of perfume using Ms Waugh's card and also tried to purchase products from the Apple store. Addressing Perkins, the judge said he had little idea why the two women had agreed to be involved the fraud, but there had been hints during the trial 'I suspect you were selected because of you biography on a website stated your interest in meeting other people and you had an acute housing need at the time', he said. I strongly suspect you were blinded by the content of a book you had read about wishful mantra, that if you pray for something long enough it might actually come along and come true. You were fooled by his apparent genuineness, and like all things that seem too good to be true, it was. Perkins was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service. Burke was given a three year community order, including supervision sessions and 100 hours community service. Perkins, of Ilford, Essex, and Burke, of Hainault, Essex, both denied guilt of any crime.