Scots food bank treasurer embezzled £4k from charity in deprived community

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The treasurer of a food bank embezzled thousands of pounds from the charity which was helping a community struggling through Covid.

Mhairi Borland helped herself to £4,500 from the Lochee Community Larder which had been set up to help people through the cost-of-living crisis.Borland transferred the money direct from the charity into her own bank account but later claimed taking the cash was an administrative error.

She was initially charged with embezzling £25,000 from the charity, but the Crown accepted her guilty plea to the lesser sum at Dundee Sheriff Court.Fiscal depute Laura Farquhar told the court: "She was the treasurer and was the only person with access to the charity's online bank account. "In March 2021 they received funding to move to larger premises.

Refurbishments started in July that year and in August a contractor sent an invoice seeking the outstanding balance for work."This was brought to the attention of the accused and she advised that due to a fraud investigation the money held in the account and bank cards had been frozen."The company which had carried out the refurbishment work then threatened to send in debt collectors if the balance on the account was not paid.Borland stuck to her story, but when other members of the charity committee investigated with the bank, they discovered that the accounts had not been frozen at all.When bank statements were checked, the charity discovered that Borland had sent £4,500 to her own bank account.Borland was quizzed by police and said: "I didn't steal it - I just didn't return it."Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.N