£14k fraud shame

Airline worker in the dock

An airline worker embezzled £14,000 from bosses by firing in fraudulent claims.

Lissa Forrest, employed as a customer service assistant by Loganair at Glasgow Airport, filed 37 bogus claims for compensation on behalf of passengers, which she diverted into her own pocket.

At Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday the 44-year-old from Quarriers’ Village, Bridge of Weir, admitted pocketing the cash between June, 2013 and September, 2016, when her racket was rumbled by a suspicious colleague.

Fiscal depute Masooma Jaffri said: “Miss Forrest was employed by Loganair at Glasgow Airport where she was a customer service representative.

“Part of her duties was to submit claims for compensation in respect of persons who had missed flights as they experienced delays and as a result sought compensation.

“On September 1, 2016, an employee in the same company became suspicious of Miss Forrest and her subsequent compensation claim on behalf of a passenger.

“This information was then passed to management. Inquiries were conducted and an interview was held with Miss Forrest who admitted submitting false claims.

“She admitted paying money into her partner’s and her joint account.”

Ms Jaffri added that Forrest had filed 37 bogus claims amounting to £14,000 from Loganair.

Police were called and she was cautioned and charged, however, she made no reply during her interview.

Her defence agent Rhona Lynch said that Forrest, a former law graduate from Glasgow Caledonian University, was “deeply ashamed” and “very regretful” over the embezzlement, which cost her her job, got her a criminal record and left her future in tatters.

She said: “She is a 44-year-old woman and was employed by Loganair for nine years, six years as cabin crew and three years in her last job. .

“This came about because of her very difficult battle with insomnia and addiction to sleeping tablets.

“Her GP stopped prescribing them and she accessed the tablets online, which were costly and she built up significant debt.”

Sheriff Robert Fife told Forrest: “This involved a significant breach of trust. The amount of money in this embezzlement could justify you being put on prison. However this is a summary complaint, and because of your lack of a criminal record and what has been said on your behalf, I am not going to send you to prison today.”

He handed her a Community Payback Order lasting 18 months, 300 hours, the maximum amount, of unpaid work to be completed in 12 months and gave her a compensation order to repay her bosses.