Crooked mum and daughter swindled £60k by using dead man’s ID and plundering kids’ accounts
Credit union pair rumbled after probe into bullying stumbles on to scheme
A crooked mother and daughter – who stole more than £60,000 by taking bogus loans in a dead man’s name and plundering children’s bank accounts – are facing jail.
Catherine Burnett, 63, and Andrea Rodden, 44, hatched a plot to pocket a fortune from Whitehill Hillhouse Earnock Burnbank Credit Union (WHEB) in Hamilton.
Branch manager Burnett applied for loans, while Rodden changed details to stop them going into debt.
The pair took out cash totalling £6000 for 73-year-old John Higgins, who had died six years earlier.
A loan for £8200 was taken out in Burnett’s brother’s name without his permission. Rodden, a senior financial administrator, also stole £31,000 from junior savings accounts used by children.
Their scheme began to unravel when bosses suspended Burnett over bullying claims. A probe found major irregularities in accounts.
A panicking Burnett visited Mr Higgins’s son and pleaded with him to say he had applied for the loans in his father’s name but he contacted the police.
The duo, of Hamilton, have appeared at the town’s sheriff court and admitted a £30,000 fraud between 2007 and 2013.
Rodden admitted stealing £31,000 through a fraudulent scheme between 2012 and 2013.
Depute fiscal Callum Forsyth told the court: “The accused Burnett was suspended due to complaints made about the way she was treating staff and an HR consultant was brought in. Although she was meant to be dealing with a disciplinary matter, she found several issues in accounts.
“One was for a Mr John Higgins who passed away in September 2008 but in 2014 loan applications were made in his name for £2000 and £4000.
“Burnett filed an application and Rodden altered the computer system to adjust the interest rate to zero and change the loan repayment date so it did not show up as arrears.
“At the start of 2014, Burnett went to the house of Mr Higgins’s son, asking him to say he had taken out loans in his father’s name and he was provided with a piece of paper with loan details written on it which was handed to the police.”
The court was told investigators found dozens of loans had been taken out for customers who were not aware of what was happening.
Rodden made 68 transactions ranging from between £100 and £2500 from children’s customer accounts to her own.
Mr Forsyth added: “The accused Rodden was moving money from junior saving accounts to her own bank account.”
There was no loss to the credit union or customers after insurance repaid the losses.
Sentence was deferred on both for reports and their bail was continued.