Coleen Muirhead started working for a metals recycling firm in Scotland in 2014. Not lengthy after, the 55-year-old grandmother with a penchant for playing launched an embezzlement scheme for which she’ll now spend the subsequent few years in jail.
The Excessive Courtroom in Edinburgh, Scotland. A grandmother who embezzled nearly $2 million from her employer was sentenced to greater than three years by the Excessive Courtroom this week. (Picture: Alamy)
Muirhead, who had no legal report till she started cooking the books for Panda Rosa Metals, went all-out along with her scheme. Over the course of the subsequent few years, she finally fleeced the corporate out of £1.5 million (US$1.83 million), per a report by the BBC.
Nobody appeared to query the executive assistant who was dwelling like a queen, taking costly journeys, shopping for large automobiles, and paying for her son’s lavish wedding ceremony. Whereas the corporate won’t ever recoup the cash, Muirhead will now spend the subsequent three years and 4 months in a jail cell.
Concocting the Scheme that Made Hundreds of thousands
Shortly after beginning her new job with the corporate, Muirhead seen a system that she may exploit. She then developed an elaborate plan to drag off the scheme and embezzle from the corporate.
When scrap steel arrived at both of the corporate’s two properties, it was weighed to calculate the worth, and the consumer was given a receipt with that worth. The consumer would then create an bill with the information and ship it to the corporate to rearrange the switch of the cost.
That is the place Muirhead discovered her loophole. She created a faux consumer, “G Anderson,” and commenced creating false invoices underneath the identify. As soon as they have been delivered to Panda Rosa, a consultant made the funds with out query.
Every part appeared to work easily for some time. Regardless of at the least one worker turning into suspicious about Muirhead’s lavish life-style, nobody took an in depth have a look at what is perhaps occurring.
Not even a major drop in earnings was sufficient to trigger an alarm. It wasn’t till a senior firm govt carried out a proper overview of Panda Rosa’s accounting that the discrepancies have been uncovered.
From there, additional scrutiny of firm data found precisely what had occurred. The paper trails all led again to Muirhead, and her scheme got here to an finish.
The Pity Protection
Muirhead was on trip on the time, however the firm contacted her for an evidence. She knew she had nowhere to go, and at last admitted to the crimes.
That led to Panda Rosa submitting a grievance and the police looking out Muirhead’s residence, though she was away on trip on the time. They discovered a number of receipts exhibiting big-ticket purchases, resembling two cellular properties, bikes, and extra. Additionally they discovered financial institution slips that confirmed the accounts utilized by Muirhead and Anderson have been the identical.
Upon coming back from what will probably be her final luxurious trip for some time, the police picked her up for questioning. After submitting fees, the case made its approach to court docket final month. Her lawyer tried a “pity” protection, however it didn’t maintain Muirhead out of jail.
The lawyer argued that his consumer had a “traumatic” childhood that finally led her to develop a playing behavior and to start out ingesting closely. It didn’t totally sway the decide, who accused Muirhead of exhibiting “no regard” for a way the crimes would affect her employers.
She may have obtained a sentence of as much as 5 years in jail. In that regard, she obtained one final fortunate break from her time with Panda Rosa.
