City Council worker embezzled thousands from justice department
A council worker who embezzled thousands of pounds from a council's criminal justice department was today facing jail.
A council worker who embezzled thousands of pounds from a council's criminal justice department was today facing jail.
Agnes Beat swindled money from Dundee City Council's criminal justice social work department and a local authority run bail hostel over the course of almost seven years.
Beat had control of budgets and petty cash within the department and "intimidated" other workers into signing forms that allowed her to carry out her fraud.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told that on dozens of occasions she put in petty cash claims to council chiefs for departmental cars to be valeted at a cost of £50 to £80 a time.
Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed said that, in reality, only two cars had ever been cleaned by the company she claimed was doing the work - and that in fact the authority's motors were dealt with in house by a member of staff.
She said: "Due to discrepancies in the finances and allegations about her conduct an investigation was launched into her accounting practices.
"During this period she had colleagues sign blank forms and acted in an intimidating manner to get them to do so.
"She would then sign them as an authorised person and put them in to be reimbursed saying they'd been used for car valeting.
"No receipts were attached and it was later found there was no regular valeting carried out by the firm she claimed was used.
"Only two were ever done.
"Another member of staff was responsible for cleaning cars himself.
"Later another receipt was found for a camera which a colleague signed as she felt intimidated by the accused.
"That was for £89.98 and no camera was every found to have been purchased with this money."
Beat, 58, of Tay Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzlement on indictment committed between April 5 2005 and January 31 2012.
She had originally been charged with scamming £42,915.54 from the authority.
But prosecutors accepted she had stolen the reduced amount of £4,831.98
Theo Finlay, defending, said: "Background reports will be required here."
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports and released Beat on bail meantime.
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: "This person no longer works for Dundee City Council.”