Jailed oil finance boss ordered to pay £600,000 of embezzled cash back to employers

Jacqueline McPhie, 46, who earned a salary of £150,000 a year at the time of her crime, but ended up living in a caravan with her parents after her crime came to light, was jailed for three years and four months in the summer, but returned to court this week for a proceeds of crime hearing.

The Crown made the unusual move to order the money to go to her employers, rather than into the “general public purse”.

Judge Lady Wise – who previously dismissed McPhie’s claims she had stolen the cash because she was under pressure to provide for her family – gave her six months to pay the £590,000.

It will be raised by selling off her properties in Aberdeen and Stonehaven.

McPhie took the money while she was working at Altus Intervention in Aberdeen between March 2013 and April 2014.

At her trial in July the oil executive had broken down as Judge Lady Wise branded her “greedy” for swindling her bosses for the sole purpose of living a life of luxury.

McPhie, of Arbroath, had admitted stealing £1,376,935 but said she had come under pressure because her former husband’s company was not making much money.

But the high court had earlier heard that she diverted money from the business, which supplies equipment for North Sea oil and gas projects, to fund her lifestyle.

She bought an £80,000 Range Rover, and spent more than £60,000 on a new garage and driveway, £52,000 on a kitchen and £30,000 on a summer house in her garden.

The court also heard that she had previously been given 300 hours of community service 16 years ago for stealing £250,000 from previous employers.

At sentencing, the judge told McPhie: “You are 46 years old and had what many people would regard as an enviable existence.

“You enjoyed a salary of almost £150,000 per annum, you were married with a child, your husband also had work.

“Your motivation can only have been greed, to have even more material wealth than your position allowed you to accrue. It is of considerable concern that this is not your first conviction for a dishonesty offence.

“You have a previous conviction for embezzlement, also of a significant sum dating from 2000 when you were given a non custodial sentence. That experience did not deter you from further similar criminal conduct.”

At this week’s hearing Judge Lady Wise ordered McPhie to pay back nearly £590,000 to the firm.

The Crown had earlier raised proceedings to seize the profits of her crime, but the court ruled the money should be paid as compensation to her former employers, who have already recovered more than £200,000 from McPhie.

Advocate depute Barry Divers said the £587,434 figure represented McPhie’s “realisable assets” – which include properties in Aberdeen, Stonehaven and a caravan in Montrose.

He said: “This is a somewhat unusual matter. As well as inviting the court to make a confiscation order, the Crown also invites the court to make a compensation order.

“Clearly in a case of this sort there has been a loss to her former employers.

“The Crown would prefer to see the complainers recompensed than for this money to go into the general public purse.”

McPhie was given six months to pay the cash back.

Lady Wise said: “With the knowledge of the case that I have I can see why it is in the interests of justice that the orders are made so that the victim of the crime, the company, is recompensed as far as possible.”