Elderly Scottish Widows annuities worker embezzled £600,000

Robert Crawford, 71, from Broxburn, pleaded guilty to embezzling £600,000 between 1 May 2001 and 31 December 2014 at Livingston Sheriff Court.

The administrator worked in the annuities department at Scottish Widow’s headquarters in Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, for 13 years during which time he siphoned off the funds, the court heard.

Noting that Crawford had no previous convictions and had never served a prison sentence, Sheriff Jamie Gilmour adjourned the case until 2 November for background reports to look into whether Crawford should be jailed.

A police officer also served him with a confiscation order for almost £1m under proceeds of crime laws.

The order states although he made £600,000 from his crime, the Crown estimates his “recoverable assets” total £972,190.

A Scottish Widows spokeswoman said: “We have conducted a full investigation into this matter and no customers have been financially disadvantaged.”