A woman who allegedly conned a man out of $45,000 was, herself, robbed of $30,000 inside the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The accused, Phyllis Althea Campbell, was to repay the complainant $45,000 yesterday when the matter was mentioned.

However, when her elderly and somewhat 'out of sorts' mother who was to have brought the money was called up, she revealed that she had paid the sum to a woman who was sitting in court. The accused, in a state of shock, said to her mother, "Whe di money?"

Innocently, her mother replied, "Mi gi di lady." When asked who she gave it to, she said: "Di brown lady whe did siddung deh so," pointing to an empty space on the court bench.

Upon hearing this, the accused broke down, screaming, "Jesus Christ!", while holding her head.

Her mother told police officers that the lady had told her that she was the person to get the money and had also written her a receipt. This receipt, however, was merely a note scrawled on the back of a supermarket receipt. It started off, "Received the sum of ..."

Attempts by the police officers and the woman to locate the mysterious woman who had taken the money were unsuccessful, as she had long fled the court.

The complainant received $17,500 from the accused, who asked for time to pay the rest. The matter is to be mentioned again on August 3.

The complainant in the matter was being questioned by the police to determine whether he was in collusion with the mystery woman.