Book-keeper who ripped off decorator to live a life of luxury is jailed
A BOOK-KEEPER who scammed tens of thousands of pounds from the firm where she worked then blew it on cars, foreign holidays and jewellery was jailed for 18 months yesterday.
Convicted Theif - Catherine Bryceland
Catherine Bryceland embezzled £60,000 over the course of 18 months from the painting firm to fund a luxury lifestyle for her and her family.
She admitted the charged on the third day of her trial last month at Dundee Sheriff Court and was last night behind bars.
The trial earlier heard that company owner Raymond Gloag was left "hurt" when the fraud came to light. Bryceland, 50, had been left to run the financial side of the Dundee business - with Mr Gloag signing blank cheques to allow her to pay bills.
But the crook went on to abuse that trust and used the cheques to pay cash into her own bank account and then spent the money on herself.
Fiscal depute Donna Brown told the court that the whole scam was "amateurish" and was easily detected after she left the company in 2010.
She said Bryceland, of Dundee, worked at the firm for ten years and was there when it grew to employ a staff of 50 and to make £150,000 profits.
Jailed for 18 months
This was a very serious offence
Her crime was exposed when the company went bust after losing £200,000 and liquidation accountants were called in to study the books.
Ms Brown said Bryceland's crime had not caused the company to fold, but explained: "She transferred money to her own bank accounts.
"The amateur nature of the embezzlement came to light when new accountants looked at records and when her bank accounts were examined later.
Dundee Sheriff Court
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"She made the cheques out payable to herself which she was able to do given how trusted she was by Mr Gloag. He would then sign his name to a number of blank cheques."
The court heard Bryceland used the money on cars, holidays and "bling" and none of it had been repaid.
She had denied embezzling £192,000 but admitted pocketing £60,000 between July 2007 and December 2008.
Jailing her, Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "You simply took advantage of a surprising degree of naivety on the part of your employer. This was a very serious offence."