False Invoicing Lands Manager in Jail for £900,000 Fraud

Friday 8th September, 2023

A manager at a property firm who stole £900,000 to support a luxury lifestyle has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Manager, Emma Hunt, spent thousands on parties, hospitality at sporting events, hotel stays, a five-star Caribbean holiday, cars, and designer goods after stealing money from Edinburgh based McLean Properties.

Some of the stolen money was spent on days out at the Scottish Open golf tournament, Musselburgh and Ayr races and a Scotland rugby match against England at Murrayfield in 2018.

She carried out her scheme by transferring rental payments from tenants into her own bank accounts and obtained deposits from tenants which were not required.

As well as diverting rental payments, she regularly created false invoices totalling large sums for “supplies” and “business expenses” which were again paid into her personal accounts.

The fraud was discovered after concerns emerged over company accounting activity.

Lynne Barrie, Procurator Fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said: “Fraud and embezzlement are not victimless crimes. This was a brazen example of targeting a business and its customers.”

Detective Sergeant Drummond Fyall, of Police Scotland, said: “Emma Hunt deceived her employers for almost three years and significantly abused their trust by stealing large sums of money to fund a lavish lifestyle.”