Kingdom Credit Union Embezzler Faces Jail

A woman who embezzled almost £80,000 in less than a year from the Kingdom Credit Union where she was a "trusted" member of staff is facing jail.

Margaret Bond was a respected worker at the non-profit group which provides financial products to people in Fife.
 
Bond set up 42 loans on the firm's systems - paying the money into her own bank account, the same one her salary was paid into. The scam was spotted when a check on interest rates found one of the loans she had given herself was on a far lower interest rate than it should have been.
 
A comprehensive check revealed the full scale of her deception - and that none of the loans were being repaid.
 
Fiscal depute Lindsey Armstrong told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Bond had worked at the union since 2009, and was one of a "limited, select" group of staff with access to it's online banking service.

'Position of trust'

She said: "Part of her job involved processing loans and payments.
 
"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.
 
"On further investigation it was discovered the paperwork that should have accompanied this particular loan was missing.
 
"This raised suspicion and further enquiries were made.
 
"It was noted that this loan and a number of others had been processed by the accused and that the money for these loans had been paid into the same bank account that her salary was paid into.
 
"A comprehensive check was carried out which revealed 42 loans had been paid into her account, all processed by her.
 
"The total amount of money involved was £79,120.
 
"The loans were not being repaid."
 
Bond, 48, of Keilburn, Lundin Links, Leven, Fife, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of embezzlement.
 
Her scam was carried out between August 9 2013 and August 7 2014 at the union's offices in Leven and Glenrothes.
 
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 added that it was unclear how much cash in total was lost the Credit Union overall.
 
He said: "She has offered to repay some of the monies but that hasn't happened yet.

'Repaying with its own money'
 
"My understanding from her was that when she created certain loans some of them immediately repaid other loans she had created.
 
"But she was repaying the credit union with it's own money.
 
"The total of the loans she took was almost £80,000."
 
Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC deferred sentence until next month for the outcome of proceeds of crime proceedings against Bond.