A volunteer accountant who stole more than £17,000 from a Forfar charity playgroup has not yet paid back a penny.
Self-employed bookkeeper Tammy Laird, 45, previously admitted embezzling cash from Chimes Playgroup.
Laird, of Queen Street in Forfar, will be sentenced next year but has been instructed to immediately begin paying back the money she pilfered.
While working as a volunteer at the Angus playgroup, she pocketed cheques which were being given to her to reimburse her for HMRC payments.
Wheelchair-user Laird cited “extreme financial difficulty” for her offending, before leaving court in a private-plated SUV.
Scam uncovered after audit
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson said: “The locus is Chimes Playgroup in Forfar – they are the complainer.
“It was agreed that the accused was to pay the bills.
“She was using the services of the playgroup for a child.
“She was appointed as the bookkeeper to pay staff wages and HMRC bills – that was in 2016.”
Ms Hodgson said the manager issued Laird with cheques to pay the bills.
Laird’s solicitor explained these were mainly tax and national insurance contributions.
Laird said she had been paying bills from her own account and reclaiming the costs for logistical reasons, given her mobility difficulties.
The playgroup manager requested access to financial files and “the accused stalled and made excuses for not providing the books,” Ms Hodgson said.
Eventually the playgroup brought in EQ Accountants to carry out an audit.
After a £17,060.50 shortfall was uncovered, Laird was questioned.
The playgroup’s lawyers contacted police in September 2019.
‘Extreme financial difficulty’
Laird admitted that between November 2016 and April 2018 at Chimes Playgroup, East and Old Church, Chapel Street, Forfar and Bank of Scotland in Forfar, while acting as a bookkeeper for Chimes Playgroup, she embezzled £17,060.50.
She was initially charged with helping herself to £23,640.09.
Her solicitor said: “It’s a fairly complex arrangement.
“There were payments made – legitimate payments – during the period of the libel but I think there were discrepancies that came to the attention of the business.
“The difficulty Mrs Laird had was she found herself in extreme financial difficulty.
“She was made bankrupt as a result of the civil proceedings emerging from this matter.
“She was discharged from that – she’s not aware of owing anything in that respect.
“She tells me she has caring responsibilities.
“The gravity of the offence is not lost on her or I.
“She has no previous convictions.
“Clearly custody would be at the forefront of your Lordship’s mind.”
She offered to begin paying £500 per month.
Sheriff orders payment
Sheriff Derek Reekie deferred sentencing until March 7 and ordered Laird to begin repaying the charity.
He said: “I’m troubled that there’s been no attempt to make any payment.
“This has been known for some time.
“I don’t want this going stale.
“I do have considerable interest in trying to help the charity to get their money back.
“I stress that this is not going to dispose of the matter.”
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