• 

• News
• UK News
• Courts

A woman has been sentenced to prison after stealing £50,000 from her employer. Donna Pope exploited her Ormskirk-based company's credit card to fund holidays, car insurance, phone bills and Amazon purchases, amongst numerous other transactions.

On one occasion, Pope visited B&Q to purchase a legitimate work item using the company card, yet simultaneously used it to buy herself new radiators. On a separate occasion, her manager approached her to query why transactions from Zara and Shein were appearing on the bank statements.

Pope also charged the services of her personal trainer to the company card, at one point brazenly announcing in the office that her 'fitness lady' hadn't taken any money out of her personal account, reports Lancs Live.

Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter

She travelled to both Amsterdam and Malaga in her final year working for the company – both times using the company card to pay for it.

Her excuse was that she hadn’t checked her personal accounts and didn’t know the money hadn’t come out.

Once confronted about her crimes, Pope went off sick, before leaving the company. Her employer later reported the fraud to police.

Pope, 47, of Liverpool Road, Ormskirk, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was jailed at Preston Crown Court for 38 months.

In a Victim Impact Statement to the court, the victim said: “When I first began to suspect irregularities, Donna repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

“She gave excuses, including claiming she had accidentally connected her personal PayPal account to the business and that she would “sort it out.”

“These explanations were lies. She continued to deny the fraud for many months and left the company, citing she was offered another job that offered more flexibility.”

He continued: “Her actions have devastated my business, my finances, and my family’s sense of security.

"The emotional impact is ongoing. We are still dealing with the consequences every day, and the road to recovery, financially, physically, and emotionally remains uncertain.”