Donna Pope, 47, has been sentenced to 38 months in prison after admitting fraud by abuse of position. She defrauded her Ormskirk-based employer of £50,000 by using the company credit card for personal spending.
Personal spending on company card
Pope used the card to pay for holidays, car insurance, phone bills, Amazon purchases and numerous other transactions. On one occasion, she visited B&Q to buy a legitimate work item but also charged new radiators for herself to the company card.
Her manager later questioned why transactions from Zara and Shein were appearing on bank statements. Pope also charged her personal trainer's services to the card, at one point brazenly announcing in the office that her "fitness lady" had not taken any money out of her personal account.
In her final year at the company, she travelled to Amsterdam and Malaga, paying with the company card both times. She claimed she had not checked her personal accounts and did not know the money had not come out.
Jailed at Preston Crown Court
When confronted about her crimes, Pope went off sick before leaving the company. Her employer later reported the fraud to police.
Pope, of Liverpool Road, Ormskirk, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was jailed at Preston Crown Court for 38 months.
Victim impact statement
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."
