Woman who fleeced company of £370,000 avoids jail because she's pregnant

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A trusted employee who fleeced her company of £370,000 has dodged jail because she's pregnant.Danielle Longstaffe defrauded her firm out of six-figure sums because she was being chased by loan sharks.

A court heard how the scheming worker transferred £218,000 to herself and others and also hired vehicles using the company's supplier.The Chronicle Live reports how she worked for Kaefer Ltd, a transport administrator in Jarrow, and had been employed there since 2012.

A boss at the company identified between £80,000 and £90,000 had vanished between April and May 2022, which led to Longstaffe coming under suspicion.At Newcastle Crown Court a judge said he had to have regard to Longstaffe's unborn child while sentencing her and she avoided the prospect of having to give birth in prison when she got a suspended sentence.Longstaffe had been transferring money from her employer's account to herself and friends and family using false details to try to cover her tracks.

The court heard how she also forged the signature of a transport manager.When she was challenged on the disappearing finances she confessed to her employer how much money she had stolen where it had gone.