Boss’s near-£59k theft from union

Loan fraud an abuse of trust

A TRUSTED credit union employee abused her position of trust to steal tens of thousands of pounds, a court has heard.

Joanne Pecherzewska reactivated dormant accounts – knowing in many cases the clients had left the country and were untraceable – and used them to generate almost £59,000 worth of loans for herself.

The scam was only uncovered when colleagues became suspicious of the odd times she was going into the office to access the computer systems.

Swansea Crown Court heard Pecherzewska had worked for the SaveEasy credit union in Llanelli for a decade, and one of her responsibilities as officer manager was authorising loan applications.

Helen Randall, prosecuting, said the defendant abused her position of trust in the organisation to generate fraudulent loans.

The prosecutor said over a period of almost two years Pecherzewska accessed eight dormant accounts, edited some of the personal details of the former clients – all Polish nationals – and then used the now active accounts to generate loans which she benefited from.

Of the eight accounts Pecherzewska used, six of them belonged to people who had returned to Poland.

The fraud only came to light in August 2019 when colleagues at the credit union began noticing the odd hours the defendant was going into office and accessing the accounts system.

When interviewed the 43-year-old mother-ofone denied any wrongdoing, and said the loans had gone to genuine customers.

However, the court heard that when the two account holders who were still in the UK were contacted they confirmed they had never received a loan.

In a statement read to the court from a director of SaveEasy he said felt sad and let down by his former colleague’s actions.

Pecherzewska, of Trinity Road, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud by abuse of position when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. She has no previous convictions.

Robin Rouch, for Pecherzewska, said having activated one account and got away with it, the defendant had given in to temptation and done it another seven times over the following months.

He said the money his client took had not gone to fund a lavish lifestyle, but at the time of the offending the defendant had been the sole breadwinner in the family and had been in considerable debt.

The barrister added: “She let herself down, she left her family down, and she let the credit union down.”

Judge Huw Rees told Pecherzewska she had used “pre-planning and guile” in her fraud, though he accepted the offending was out of character and she was “thoroughly ashamed” of what she had done.

He said a custodial sentence was inevitable but given the circumstances and the personal mitigation he was able to suspend term of imprisonment.

Giving the defendant a one-third discount for her guilty pleas the judge sentenced her to 20 months in prison for each of the eight sentences to run concurrently, and suspended the sentence for 18 months. Pecherzewska will also have to complete a rehabilitation course and 180 hours of unpaid work.