Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.
AIA

Convicted accountant faces more jail time

by
13th Aug 2013
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

An accountant jailed in April for stealing almost £70,000 from employers has been given six months to pay some of it back or face a further 18 months in jail.

This is Surrey originally reported how Cheryl Smith, from Horley in Surrey, pleaded guilty in April at Guildford Crown Court of stealing £69,057 from employers Stocksigns over three years.

She first took £9,700 to cover a council tax bill in 2008 but continued to steal the money until September 2011.

At confiscation proceedings in Guildford Crown Court, she was told she must repay £65,269.59 by February 2014 or face a further year-and-a-half in jail, reported Get Surrey.

The accountant handled the company’s payments and tax payments and was one of the signatories when processing payments.

However, she was able to make payments to herself due to the other signatory’s “lax practice” with authorisation, which meant she got hold of both authorisation codes used to make payments over £500, the court heard.

Smith’s offences were discovered following an external review in March 2012 and she tried to cover tracks by transferring more than £5,000 back. But after she was interviewed by the company, she admitted the fraud, was suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. However before this happened she resigned.

The money she stole was for “general living costs and home improvements” the court previously heard.

Tags:

Replies (0)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

There are currently no replies, be the first to post a reply.