Woman jailed for 18 months after taking nearly £58,000 from her employer
A company's former secretary and accountant who took nearly £58,000 from her employer has been sent to prison for 18 months.
Lyndsey Beckett, aged 44, of River Lane, in Waters Upton, Telford, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday for sentencing after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Telford Magistrates Court in June last year.
The court was told that Beckett took a total of £57,886.85 from a family agricultural machinery firm called Gwaza over a period of 10 months in 2021.
The Shrewsbury-based firm's managing director Victor Edwards discovered in November 2021 that the company credit card used by Beckett had been declined after hitting its £10,000 spending limit.
Mr Edwards then launched a company audit which discovered the full nature of Beckett's fraud.
The court heard that the audit discovered that bank payments had been made to Beckett's husband's company, Beckett Construction, which started struggling during the pandemic.
