Fraudster: I’ll pay back £140,000 ...in 70yrs
A FORMER employee who embezzled £ 140,000 f rom Thomas Cook to fund a jetset lifestyle has offered to pay it back – over 70 years.
Alicia Moran took US dollars, euros and other currency from the travel agent after discovering a loophole in its system.
But the 34- year- old yesterday offered to enter into a repayment plan that would see her still paying off the debt after her 100th birthday.
The mother of two spent the cash on trips to Florida, New York, Las Vegas, Spain, Disneyland Paris and Lapland, Paisley Sheriff Court was told at an earlier hearing.
Colleagues became suspicious and a probe was launched. Moran tried to offer those investigating her a handbag full of notes when they discovered her scam.
Police were contacted and she was arrested at Glasgow Airport when her plane touched down after a trip to New York and Las Vegas.
Moran was a foreign exchange sales consultant at the Thomas Cook branch in Braehead shopping centre, near Glasgow, between February 2 and August 25, 2015.
During that time she processed 140 currency transactions for free, overriding the computer systems so that the tills balanced.
She used the cash to go on five holidays and pay off her own debt and that of her partner and his mother.
Defence solicitor Terry Gallanagh, told the court: ‘This got very much out of control. She started with close family and friends and the matter escalated to pretty much half of Greenock coming to Miss Moran and getting their holiday money.
‘The money was paid [to her] but she did not immediately return it and kept it.
‘They say, “Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it” – she booked it and cooked the books.’
At the court hearing in October, Moran, of Greenock, Renfrewshire, admitted embezzling £140,000. Sentence was deferred until yesterday for background reports.
After being told that Moran had offered to repay the £140,000 at a rate of £40 per week, Sheriff David Pender said: ‘I worked out it would take her about 70 years to repay.’
Mr Gallanagh asked for a further adjournment for the preparation of a report on his client’s mental health, as Moran believes she may have had bipolar disorder before, during and after conning Thomas Cook.
Adjourning the case for two weeks, Sheriff Pender said: ‘It’s no inconvenience to me if I continue it again. This matter is hanging over her head – the angst is on her, not on me.’
Moran could face up to five years behind bars when she returns for sentencing later this month.