£90k ‘windfall’ mum ends up in court
A CLEANER who received an ‘unexpected windfall’ when £90,000 was transferred to her account in error let ‘temptation’ get the better of her, a court heard.
Comfort Konadu, 52, ended up before the courts after failing to tell anyone when the sum was deposited into her bank account by mistake, when she went to return an item at a charity shop. Instead, during a ‘flurry’ of transactions she transferred £57,000 of the cash into other accounts, including to her children.
After discovering the error the bank were able to freeze and retrieve some of the money, but the Royal Mencap Society has lost more than £31,000.
Now a Proceeds of Crime investigation will take place to see whether the charity can claw back any of its losses.
A judge told Konadu: “You have brought shame on yourself, and I dare say to your family.”
Manchester Crown Court heard that mum-of-six Konadu had gone into the charity’s shop in Openshaw on Friday, October 11, last year to get a refund for an item she had bought.
Days later, senior managers at the charity, which supports people with learning disabilities, were alerted to the large refund and launched an investigation. They contacted staff at the Openshaw store, who said there had been an ‘issue with the machine’.
A total of £90,047.19 had been transferred to Konadu’s account in error.
Two members of staff were suspended following the investigation, and they were later dismissed. The charity was told it would be liable for the loss because the incident had been the result of an error.
Prosecutors said the sum ‘landed’ in Konadu’s account on October 14.
Some of the refund was recovered by the bank, but the charity was left facing a loss of more than £31,000.
Prosecuting, Kate Gaskell said this would represent up to 18 monthsworth of profits for the charity shop.
At first, Konadu, of Mattison Street, Openshaw, claimed she had been expecting some money into her account. But she later pleaded guilty to theft.
Defending, Max Saffman said that Konadu, also a grandmother of 12, usually lives a ‘modest and humble’ lifestyle working as a cleaner.
He said the money was ‘more than she could ever have dreamed of’, and that ‘temptation got the better of her’.
Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Dean QC told her: “This was in effect an unexpected windfall into your bank account. You ought at that stage to have reported it to both your bank and to Mencap. You fell prey to temptation and acted dishonestly. You leave this court with a stain on your character.”
She was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing will be held in December.