Edinburgh charity worker admits embezzling thousands of pounds from vulnerable and disabled victims
A charity worker has admitted embezzling thousands of pounds from vulnerable and disabled victims by using their bank cards to withdraw cash from their accounts.
Margaret Burnett was employed with the Leonard Cheshire charity when she began pilfering funds from clients who suffered conditions including cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
Burnett, 69, was a team leader with the organisation and worked at a supported accommodation premises in Edinburgh where seven adults with physical and learning difficulties reside.
The callous pensioner used bank cards belonging to five residents to make numerous withdrawals from their accounts and helped herself to a total of £29,900 between January 2014 and August 2016.
Burnett, from Granton, Edinburgh, was eventually caught out when alert bank staff noticed unusual activity on one of the disabled customer’s account and contacted the charity.
Burnett pleaded guilty to embezzling the cash from the five service users while she had responsibility for overseeing and administering their finances when she appeared at the capital’s sheriff court on Thursday.
The Leonard Cheshire charity provides specialist support to disabled people including those with extremely complex care needs. Following the conviction, a spokesperson slammed the former employee by describing the offences as “a despicable abuse of trust” and said the organisation has reimbursed all the stolen money.
Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer told the court Burnett was employed as a support worker and was later promoted to team leader when she worked at the residential unit between 2003 and 2016.
The residents at the supported accommodation had their finances controlled by charity staff and all transactions involving their accounts were officially logged in a cash book.
The court heard one female resident, who has since died, suffered from cerebral palsy while a second male victim who had hundreds of pounds stolen from him suffered from multiple sclerosis.
Mr van der Scheer said staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland had noticed “anomalies” on one resident’s account and contacted the charity to query the transactions in September 2016. The police were alerted to the situation by charity management and a subsequent investigation found the bank accounts of five vulnerable service users had been accessed by Burnett.
The court heard one victim had his bank card used while he was in hospital and bed-bound and was “physically unable to withdraw the cash”.
Burnett was suspended then sacked before being arrested and charged with fraud in November 2019. During a police interview she blamed colleagues for telling lies about her and claimed it was them who had failed to document cash withdrawals properly.
The fiscal depute added: “She denied having any addiction problems including gambling and stated she used to go Mecca and Gala bingo occasionally and would sometimes gamble online. She could not remember how much she gambled or how often, and denied any offending.”
Sheriff Charles Walls said: “You were responsible for the care of vulnerable adults and this has been a grave breach of trust. It seems to me there has been a significant amount of planning on your part and this is a serious matter.”
Burnett was granted bail and sentence was deferred for reports to be prepared to next month.
A spokesperson for Leonard Cheshire said: “This was a despicable abuse of trust by Ms Burnett, who was suspended and subsequently dismissed by the charity as soon as concerns were raised. We expect the highest standards from anyone working for us
“All relevant authorities and regulators were informed immediately, including the police who began investigating. Scotland management at the time took steps to strengthen financial controls at individual services, with support from an external auditor. All service users who lost money have had this reimbursed by the charity.
“Processes and procedures are in place at all Leonard Cheshire services to minimise the risk of any staff member, however senior, committing this type of crime. The systems we have now are designed to identify suspicious activity far sooner.”