East Kilbride HMRC Worker Faces Jail Time After Embezzling Nearly £200,000
An East Kilbride tax worker may sell her house to avoid jail after embezzling nearly £200,000 from HMRC
East Kilbride, Scotland, HMRC, Embezzlement, Fraud, Joanne Connell
East Kilbride: A tax worker from HMRC is in a bit of a pickle after stealing almost £200,000. She might dodge jail time if she sells her house.
Joanne Connell, 37, used taxpayer info to create fake credits and funneled money into her own account. She even admitted it helped her pay off most of her mortgage.
In court, it came out that she had been with HMRC for about 15 years. She pulled off the scam while working from home, recovering from meningitis.
Initially, she transferred £500, but then it escalated to £35,000 on four different occasions. She was off work for nearly a year due to her health issues.
When she got caught, she confessed and mentioned she had around £100,000 in debts. She had managed to clear £80,000 of her mortgage and even helped out her neighbors.
Her lawyer argued that this behavior was out of character for her. They suggested a non-custodial sentence since she’s willing to repay HMRC by selling her house, which is worth about £123,000.
The sheriff wasn’t too impressed with her excuses, saying it seemed like she knew what she was doing. He decided to give her six weeks to see if she can sell her house.
If that doesn’t happen, she might be heading to jail. It’s a tough spot for her, but it looks like she’s trying to make things right.