Crime in Moray: Company employee faked robbery
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A credit company employee guilty of embezzlement tried to cover her tracks by claiming an intruder had knocked her unconscious.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard today that Karen Main of Keith Road, Burghead fraudulently issued loans in order to obtain £23,000 of company funds.
Main, who had worked for Provident UK for 20 years, admitted embezzling money between March 25, 2015 and December 27, 2018.
The 49-year-old also admitted wasting police time.
Sentence has been deferred until May 6 for a background report.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir said Main had used three methods of obtaining cash because she had got herself into "significant financial difficulties".
He added: "She would issue a loan without the customer's knowledge and on occasions at a later date claim it had been issued accidentally.
"The second was to offer a cash reward to a customer if they took part in a fictitious training scheme.
"The third was to utilise friendships with the customer and abuse her position of trust to persuade them to take out a loan on her behalf to help her out of financial difficulties."
Mr Weir added that none of the customers were out of pocket, only Provident UK.
The prosecutor also described the robbery that Main faked to hide her appropriation of cash she was allowed to hold as a 'float'.
Before a visit by her line manager on December 27, 2018, Main claimed she had left the door open while going out for cigarettes.
She lied that an intruder had subsequently robbed her of £1985.
Mr Weir said: "She claimed she saw a man in her hallway, brandishing a pole and demanding money."
The robber supposedly knocked Main unconscious after she had thrown some cash and coins at him.
A neighbour found Main with a head injury and she was taken to hospital.
Mr Weir said: "An extensive police enquiry was instigated with house-to-house enquiries and the checking of CCTV footage.
"A significant number of officers were involved and detectives spent many hours with Main.
"She had ample opportunity to come forward and admit her wrongdoing."
She resigned from the company shortly after.
