Manager jailed for embezzling £40,000 from vulnerable residents at social care charity

Violet Connor, 67, of Glenrothes, stole money from the bank accounts of Sense Scotland users over a three-year period.

Connor appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court earlier this month and admitted a charge of embezzling money from residents between April 2019 and December 2022. She was sentenced on June 27.

The sentence was welcome d by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Helen Nisbet, Procurator Fiscal for Tayside, Central and Fife, said: “This offence was committed against some of the most vulnerable in our community and was a very serious breach of trust. We will always prosecute in such cases where there is evidence to do so.”

The court heard that Connor, who was employed as a locality manager at Sense Scotland, was authorised to withdraw precise amounts of cash for 10 service users. She would then enter the transaction in a manual paper ledger system at the charity, which cares for vulnerable adults and children who face challenges such as being deaf, blind, or having learning difficulties. These withdrawals usually took place once or twice a month.

In October 2022, Connor was on compassionate leave following a family bereavement and had been due to retire two months later. However, a book-keeping discrepancy was noticed while her interim replacement was being shown the process of balancing finance folders for service users overseen by the accused.

Company officials were alerted and an internal enquiry subsequently revealed Connor had made excessive withdrawals totalling £40,060 from the accounts of residents. She will now be subject to confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation.