Fundraiser in dock after stealing £75k from charity
Organiser embezzled a fortune
Aformer fundraiser is facing a jail sentence after admitting stealing tens of thousands of pounds from her charity.
Claire Paton organised black tie events and fundraising dinners in her role as Scottish manager of the Electrical Industries Charity.
Her job with the trade charity – a London- based organisation which gives practical and financial support to electricians and their families – saw her rub shoulders with sport stars and TV personalities at charity events.
But Paton, from Bathgate in West Lothian, was secretly raiding the charity’s accounts over 10 months, between November 2014 and September 2015.
The 46-year-old – whose highend sports car was kitted out with personalised number plates – was discovered to have been stealing after auditors at the charity noticed missing cash.
She was sacked and reported to the police in 2015 before the trade body – who used to be known as the Electrical and Electronics Benevolent Association – went to court to bankrupt her in a bid to reclaim the estimated £ 75,000 they believe she stole.
Paton has now pleaded guilty to embezzling £ 46,000 from the charity at Livingston Sheriff Court.
She has since been made bankrupt, but the Crown Office has also served her with a Proceeds of Crime claim for £ 75,000, alleging that was how much she had profited from her criminal conduct.
Sheriff Martin Edington adjourned the case for a criminal justice social work report and assessments of Paton’s suitability for unpaid work and a restriction of liberty order.
He told her: “This, I’m afraid to say, is a serious charge and background reports are required, in my view, before sentence is passed.”
During her career with the charity, Pat on organised fundraising events for its regional committees in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
These included annual dinners at Christmas and on Valentine’s Day, and boxing tournaments and other events featuring celebrity guests at some of the most prestigious venues in Scotland.
In 2009, the electrical and electronics charity raised more than £ 55,000 at its annual Christmas lunches held in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
A black tie boxing event at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange in 2012 raised around £9000.
Paton also hosted a 2013 event at the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews, for which guests paid £60 each.
Former footballers Chick Charnley, Frank McAvennie and co median Joe Ca may have attended the events she has organised.
Before she was caught, Paton proudly posted a photo of a white BMW saloon with the private number plate C1 PTN on her social media pages. Her posts also included a picture of her grinning at the camera at a function at Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel and drinking wine with a pal in an upmarket bar.
We approached Paton at her £100,000 flat in Bathgate but she refused to comment.
Tessa Ogle, managing director of Electrical Industries Charity, said: “I can confirm Claire Paton was let go following the allegations.”
However, she refused to comment further.
Paton is due to return to court to be sentenced next month.