TULLULA SALVATORE, the British visitor who was imprisoned last week along with her boyfriend after falsely reporting a $34 million armed robbery, may not have been seeking to claim an insurance payout.
Rather, police theorise, she wanted to get money from the agency which rented her the Sandy Lane property where she was staying by claiming it was not a safe environment.
The British media reported that the 27-year-old, who did not tell officers why she invented the scheme, was the daughter of a wealthy British socialite, who passed away 15 years ago leaving Tullula a large inheritance which she has reportedly blown.
That may be the reason why, according to police sources, she masterminded the scheme to falsely report that she and boyfriend Edward Denney were robbed by two armed masked men of jewellery and cash valued at $34 million.
Salvatore and her lover later recanted their stories and were jailed last week, she for 18 months and he for nine, after pleading guilty to making a false report to the police.
Sources reported that the palatial Sandy Lane mansion she rented was “in a mess” and she also left a hired car company in the red after issuing a bounced cheque for $5 000.
The owner of the hired car business explained that Salvatore had hired vehicles from him before and there was never a problem with payment until the week when he learned that she had come up with the false robbery story.
“The cheque which she issued for $5 000 was returned and when I?contacted her she told me that she was sorry but she had cancelled the cheque because she was robbed at her home and she would make good on it.
However, the man said when he confronted Salvatore at the police station after she was arrested she offered to pay him with a painting but he was informed by the police that he could not accept it because the matter was being dealt with in court.
“I am in the process of speaking to my attorney to get my money from her when she has finished serving her sentence,”?he said.
It also appears that Denney, 41, a father of four young children, was a willing participant in Salvatore’s grand scheme.
A day after they reported being robbed, he went on his Facebook page and asked one of his contacts, “Have you heard what happened to us at the house yesterday?” He told his friend that he would inbox him the details.
Going by the name Edward Salvatore Denny on Facebook, he also had as his status that he was engaged to Tullula. On February 7, two days after the false robbery, the couple were declaring their love for each other on his page.
A relative of Salvatore who lives in Barbados said she had disgraced the family name.
Her mother, Chelita Salvatore, was born to Trinidadian parents and became a journalist and fashion stylist who married pop manager Tony Secunda, according to London’s Daily Mail. Chelita also invented the very successful glam rock clothing line in the 1960s.
When she died at age 55, she left her only child Tullula, an inheritance of over £1 million, including properties and a vast jewellery collection.
Tullula, who was raised by trustees, apparently spent the cash, sold off all the properties and was said to be now broke.
The relative, who also lives in an upscale neighbourhood, said he was shocked to learn that Salvatore was here but not surprised when he heard she had committed a crime.
mariabradshaw@nationnews.com
