A 'cold and calculating' mother who stole over £1.3 million from the family company where she worked has been sentenced to five years in prison. Alison Smith, 42, abused her role as financial manager at Eiran Civil Engineering in Blaenavon, Wales, over nine years to fund luxury holidays, cars and designer clothes.
Smith, who earned an annual salary of £32,000, sowed division and animosity among the family who owned the firm to avoid detection. She duplicated invoices from legitimate suppliers but changed the bank details to pay herself, making hundreds of fraudulent payments.
The fraud was uncovered after Smith resigned in January this year. Another employee, Anita Lane, reviewed the company's finances and discovered a payment purportedly to Oil 4 Wales had actually gone to Smith. Analysis revealed she had stolen £1,315,143 in total.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Lane said Smith had intentionally created animosity within the family and discredited her to colleagues. 'It tore me apart emotionally. A life-changing amount of money has been stolen from my family, all done while she was sitting opposite me in the office,' she said.
Smith, from Aberbargoed, pleaded guilty to fraud. Her barrister said she had a gambling addiction that began with bingo and progressed to online slot machines, and that she had attempted suicide due to guilt. The court heard she had a previous conviction for theft by employee in 2004.
