![]() "That depression was exacerbated by the deaths of her mother and sister within weeks in 2014. "There is a history of anxiety and depression following the birth of her first son. She is terrified at the prospect of what might follow. "She has clearly been a good and supportive friend but for some reason it seems she has taken a destructive path, leading to the defendant's shame before the court. Andrew McInnes, defending, told the court: "References suggest a positive good character. This is a gross breach of that trust." Ellis, who has no previous convictions, has since "found employment at a much lower level". Mr Hopkins added: "The defendant was plainly well thought of by the company. These had been made into 12 separate accounts, including those of her family members.Įllis "phoned in sick" after the theft was first discovered, and she was later dismissed. This prompted a full internal investigation, which found that the fraudster had stolen a total of £181,958.95 from her employer over the course of 139 separate transactions dating as far back as January 2017. The boss then found a record of payment to a Preston-based skip company on Ellis' desk, a document which stated that the funds had actually been transferred to her personal bank account. Credit: Liverpool Echoīut she also spotted that the card had previously been used to carry out another suspicious transaction on 5 May, while a £300 withdrawal had been made from a cash machine on 22 April. Tracy Ellis was jailed for two years and eight months at Liverpool Crown Court. This caused Ms Burrows to carry out further checks on the account, at which point she saw that the mother-of-three had repaid the sum "along with a further payment". While Ellis - who is also known as Tracy Hatton - initially "suggested it might have been another employee", she then admitted that she had made the purchase but claimed "it had been an accident and she had mistaken the company card for her own". ![]() She then confronted the defendant, as they were the only members of staff who had been untrusted with the pin number for this card. But, on 9 May last year, company director Jennifer Burrows noticed that the business account had been used to complete a £37.80 transaction at B&Q in St Helens the previous day. Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday 10 July, that the 52-year-old was first employed by Prescot-based building contractor Ingham and Garner Ltd - a company involved in refurbishments, extensions and fit outs for public sector clients such as the NHS and local authorities - in September 2013, and became "solely responsible" for its accounts.Ĭhristopher Hopkins, prosecuting, described how Ellis, of Hall Street in St Helens, was tasked with paying invoices and looking after petty cash as part of her role. Her actions have been described as a "betrayal" to the small firm for which she worked as a bookkeeper for nearly a decade. Tracy Ellis lived out a "fantasy life" as she lavished family members with gifts, funded by swindling her employer out of huge sums of money over a period of more than five years. A woman who swindled her employer out of £180,000 was found out when she went shopping in B&Q. ![]()
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