Mum stole £70,000 from firm – and took family to Disneyworld
A‘DEVIOUS and greedy’ mum who swindled tens of thousands of pounds from her employer to get qualifications to become a beautician – and treat her family to meals out and a trip to Disneyworld – has been jailed.
Stockport mum-of-three Charlotte Clifton doctored payments to suppliers and staff to funnel around £70,000 into her own bank account.
The 30-year-old wept in the dock as a judge said he couldn’t suspend her jail term and that she would serve at least six months behind bars.
Clifton was accounts manager at County Gates Ltd, a small business based
at Chadkirk Industrial estate in Romiley that provides custom gates, railings, balconies and other metalwork.
She was responsible for paying suppliers and the weekly staff wages, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
In December 2017, a routine check of payments was carried out before the firm closed for Christmas.
It was discovered that the bank account details on one payment were not that of the supplier, but Clifton’s.
A more detailed examination revealed 34 fraudulent transactions disguised as wages payments or payments to suppliers.
The total amount of money funnelled out of the company was said to be over £70,000, a sum a judge said companies of that size could ‘ill afford.’
Police said Clifton used to the money to obtain qualifications for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which have enabled her to start up her own business as a self-employed beautician.
Clifton, of Dorking Close, admitted a count of fraud at an earlier hearing.
Huw Edwards, defending, said Clifton made the first few payments due to her then ‘dire financial position,’ but because she ‘got away with it,’ she ‘became greedy’ and carried on taking money, which she began to rely on.
He said Clifton, who has no previous convictions, was ‘genuinely remorseful’ and urged the judge not to send her straight to prison.
Mr Edwards said Clifton has three children, who would be greatly affected if she was jailed.
But Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC, told Clifton a 12-month sentence could not be suspended. She will serve half her sentence in prison and the rest on licence.
He told her: “You indulged yourself at the expense of your employer, It was devious and quite deliberate.”
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will be held to try to reclaim the money.