Devious finance worker splashed Leeds company credit-card funds on flights, hotels and beauty treatments
A finance worker used her company credit card to live a life of luxury, splashing out on flights, hotels and beauty treatments over a six year period.
Claire Crook spent tens of thousands of pounds belonging to Force24, a Leeds-based marketing firm, for which she worked as a senior financial leader.
The devious 49-year-old was able to cover her tracks by manually editing spreadsheets to cover the amount she was frittering away.
Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Louise Pryke said: “She was ideally placed to cover up her fraudulent behaviour.”
Crook admitted one count of false accounting. She has no previous convictions.
The court heard that Crook began using the company credit card shortly after it was issued when she began working for the Crown Point Road firm in 2016. Intended for business expenses, she began buying personal items.
These included flights, concert tickets, hotels, beauty treatments, supermarket shopping, takeaways and even cash withdrawals. She then covered her tracks, editing the finances.
It was only after she left the company in 2022 that her crime was uncovered. It was initially thought that she had fleeced the firm for around £58,000, but Crook maintains it was “between 50% and 70% of that value”, which was accepted by the Crown.
Having been called to speak with her former bosses, Crook admitted she had been spending the cash, but claimed it was only for a few months.
She was forced to admit it was over a six-year period when confronted with the evidence. She then gave a no-comment interview with police. She is yet to pay any of the money back.
Mitigating, Julian Jones said Crook, of Oak Park Lane, Leeds, suffered with mental health issues, that her mother is ill and she is responsible for her daughter.
Judge Kate Rayfield said she required more details that Crook’s offending had on her former company, and exactly what she had spent the money on.
She adjourned the case until this Friday, October 18, but told Crook she must be held on remand until then.