Fife credit union worker jailed over £80,000 embezzlement

Margaret Bond had pled guilty on indictment at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to a charge of embezzlement after setting up 42 loans totalling £79,120 on the non-profit Kingdom Credit Union’s systems.

The money was wired into her own bank account and the scam was only spotted when a check on interest rates found one of the loans was at a far lower interest rate than it should have been.

Bond, 48, of Leven in Fife, even had paid the money into the same bank account into which she had her salary paid.

Fiscal depute Lindsey Armstrong told the court that Bond had worked at the union since 2009, and was one of a “limited, select” group of staff with access to its online banking service.

The fraud was carried out between August 9, 2013, and August 7, 2014, at the union’s offices in Leven and Glenrothes.

Ms Armstrong said: “In the course of her duties the accused had access to the organisation’s banking system, placing her in a position of trust.

“To access the banking system she had to insert a card into a card reader and use a unique PIN number.

“Records show which individual member of staff has carried out the transactions on the account.

“Following a check on interest rates on loans a particular loan was highlighted as having a lower interest rate than it should have.”

Dewar Spence, defending, said the loans had not all been of high amounts and she had used the money from each loan to pay off the last.

He said: “My understanding from her was that when she created certain loans some of them immediately repaid other loans she had created.”

He added that it was unclear how much cash the Credit Union lost overall.

But a comprehensive check revealed the full scale of her deception – and that none of the loans were being repaid.

The entire amount remains outstanding.

Bond’s lawyer made an appealed not to jail Bond so she could have time to pay it back, but Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC sent her to prison for 16 months.

He said: “This represents a substantial breach of trust.”

A Proceeds Of Crime hearing will take place in October as prosecutors attempt to seize money to repay the credit union.