A woman embezzled more than £24,000 from a Fife garage where she worked.
Lesley Johnstone, 37, was employed by Drummond Motor Company in Kirkcaldy as its finance controller.
After she left it was discovered she had paid money from its bank account into her own.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court yesterday, she admitted embezzling £24,589.94 between April 2015 and November 2016.
Johnstone, who now lives in South Shields, was caught when the company’s accountant sent a reminder for an invoice recorded as having been paid.
The money had instead been paid into an account in Johnstone’s name just a fortnight before her departure. Police were contacted and an audit found 20 payments made by Johnstone to the same account.
Solicitor Nigel Cook said Johnstone, who has a baby, was made redundant last week and had been unable to secure a loan to repay her former employer. He said: “It’s unlikely she will be able to make any significant inroad into the sums which have been taken.”
Sentence was deferred on Johnstone, a first offender, until October 30 for reports.
Sheriff Grant McCulloch told her: “You appreciate this is serious. You were in a position of trust and you siphoned off money to your personal benefit.”
