Bookkeeper defrauded company out of nearly £70k using fake invoices over four years
22.03.2022 - 22:29
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A bookkeeper defrauded her employer out of nearly £70,000 using fake invoices over four years. Gillian Wilde, 58, had worked for DXG Media since 2001, but began withdrawing funds from the company account and placing them into her personal account.
She concealed these payments from scrutiny by passing them off as payments to clients or the postage company used by the business. Wilde, of Stockport, went on to create false invoices to further hide the thefts. The total amount stolen between June 2016 and June 2020 was £69,133. Her offending only came to light after her boss noticed her making derogatory comments to other staff members about him, spotted her going on expensive holidays and wearing expensive clothing.
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Wilde had been one of two bookkeepers at the company, based in Dukinfield, but from 2016 she began to work alone. The manager found it ‘increasingly difficult’ to access the business accounts, but as he trusted Wilde, he did not question her or check her workings, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
As he became more concerned, he told her he had employed an accountant and she became ‘defensive and appeared angry’, prosecutor Brian Berlyne said. “As a result of COVID19, the business closed for a while,” he said.
“He took that as an opportunity to check the account and noticed irregularities. He saw that money had been withdrawn and diverted to an account he didn’t recognise, payments were duplicated, and he later found the account which the payments had been diverted into was the personal account of Gillian Wilde.
“These were unauthorised payments made to her bank account since June 2016 and