A Fife building society manager has been jailed for 18 months after stealing £27,000 of her 85-year-old client’s life savings.
Gillian Geddes, 51, befriended pensioner Janet Gair while working as a customer account manager at the Kirkcaldy High Street branch of Dunfermline Building Society.
Geddes had worked in the banking industry for more than 30 years, including six years with the Dunfermline.
Using her experience she built up a “close and personal” relationship with her victim, which saw her organise tradesmen to do home renovations for her client as well as handling her money.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard that Geddes built up substantial debts in the region of £78,000 on top of her mortgage payments.
Finding herself receiving threatening letters and final demands from debt collectors, Geddes, using Mrs Gair’s account details, started off by taking a few hundred pounds from the pensioner to deal with her mounting financial problems.
Between May 2010 and December 2011, she removed a total of £27,600 from Mrs Gair’s account.
Sheriff James Williamson heard that the Nationwide Building Society, which took over the Dunfermline in 2009, had since paid the money back to the pensioner.
Geddes, of Sandwell Crescent, Kirkcaldy, had worked in a temporary administrative position with the Dunfermline since the embezzlement came to light, in a role that did not involve her dealing with cash.
Her solicitor, Nigel Cooke, said: “Mrs Geddes accepts this is an extremely serious matter. She accepts full responsibility for her behaviour.”
He stated his client was “not in a position to make any repayment” of the sum she had stolen.
In a plea to Sheriff Williamson, he added: “Her pension exceeds the amount that the Nationwide are to be paid. She is prepared to transfer the amount from her pension fund to cover the money taken.”
Sheriff Williamson said: “This offence represents a significant breach of trust on two levels.
“Firstly, in relation to your employer, as through your employer you were able to embezzle as much as you did.
“Secondly, and more serious, it represents a breach of trust of an elderly and vulnerable lady who you nurtured a friendship with and then betrayed that trust.
“Given the whole background to the case, the nature and extent of embezzlement, I see no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.”