A former credit union employee has been sentenced to six years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to the theft of £33,000 from her employer.
According to auditors, the credit union lost £1.2 million in fraud by staff over a 20-year period.
Ann Harrington (37), a mother of two, from Kilnap Place, Farranree, Cork, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to nine counts of stealing money from her employer, Blackpool Credit Union, between 1993 and 1998.
A fellow employee, Helen Harrison (47), from Old Court, Ballincurrig, Leamlara, also pleaded guilty at the same court to stealing a total of £256,000 while an employee of the credit union over the same period.
Harrington admitted stealing sums between £1,000 to £4,000, while Harrison admitted stealing amounts from £1,000 to £10,000. Harrison's case was adjourned for sentence.
Det Garda Michael Horgan of the Cork Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation said the credit union's auditors carried out a 10month investigation of its accounts.
"The auditors are of the opinion that the fraud was going on for 20 years and they have put the total loss at £1,206,000," he said, adding that gardai were forced to confine their investigation to between 1993 to 1998 because no earlier records were available.
Det Garda Horgan told the court that fraud had been ongoing at the credit union when Harrington joined it at the age of 17. It came to light on November 12th, 1998, when auditors noticed a number of discrepancies in the credit union's accounts.
Some staff members, including Harrington, were questioned and were unable to provide answers, and gardai were called in to investigate. Harrington was interviewed the next day, November 13th, and immediately admitted her involvement in the fraud.
Det Garda Horgan said that Harrington's method of operation was to steal amounts on the day they were lodged with the credit union. She would then issue a cheque to lodge to a credit union member's account to disguise the theft. Harrington had co-operated fully with gardai from the start of the investigation. "In fact, she expressed relief that the matter was coming to a head," he said, adding that she had indicated early on she would be pleading guilty.
Mr Pat McCarthy SC, for the defence, said his client and her husband had remortgaged their house to pay back her theft. She had already paid back £20,000, and repayments to compensate Blackpool Credit Union would continue.
The court heard that Harrington worked as a minister of the Eucharist, helping out at Masses in her local church in Farranree. She was also engaged in other voluntary work in the parish and came from a respected family, said Father Bertie O'Mahony.
"She really has turned over a new leaf," he said. "I would have no problem recommending her again because I believe she's a very sincere person." Mr McCarthy said that Harrington's mother, who was on the board of management of Blackpool Credit Union, had resigned when the fraud emerged.
In sentencing, Judge Murphy said that stealing from one's employer represented a grave breach of trust which had to punished. "In this case, there has not been one offence but repeated offences over five years," he noted.
"I believe six years is the appropriate sentence," he said. He would review the sentence on February 12th, 2001. He adjourned the sentence for a week to allow Harrington to explain to her two teenage daughters what had happened.
Judge Murphy had earlier adjourned sentence on Harrison until February 13th, 2001. Harrison's counsel, Mr Tom Creed SC, sought the adjournment to allow his client to try to raise compensation for her theft.