A WOMAN stole €80,000 from the printing firm where she worked as an accountant by diverting funds into her personal account and stealing company cheques, a court heard yesterday
Alix Long (33) used company cheques to pay personal bills such as a speeding ticket and music lessons for her child. The court heard the directors of the company had to use their own money to keep the company going after the theft was uncovered.
She will be sentenced next November at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after evidence that she had been in severe financial difficulties.
The mother of three had previously promised to repay the stolen money with €58,000 she made from the sale of her home. However, her defence counsel said she was forced to spend this on day-to-day living.
Long, of The Crescent, Earls Court, Kill, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to theft of €79,371.81 from Snap Printing at Baldonnel Industrial Estate between April 28th, 2004, and January 1st, 2007.
Sgt Philip Burke told prosecuting counsel, Fiona Murphy, that Long began work as a financial accountant with the company in 2004. In April she began making unauthorised payroll payments into her personal account.
These payments increased over time and the total amount was nearly €60,000 when she left the job in 2007.
During the same period she started making out a large number of company cheques to herself or her creditors including the Motor Tax Office, Bord Gáis and two payments to a BMW dealership. Nearly €20,000 was stolen in this way. The thefts came to light after Long had left the company and was replaced by another accountant who noticed “a litany of mistakes” in the accounts.
The new accountant investigated the mistakes and reported it to the company. Long was arrested and interviewed in March 2007. She made full admissions but was shocked when told the total amount stolen. She said she intended to pay the money back after she sold her family home following the breakdown of her marriage.
Defence counsel John Byrne said she put €10,000 aside as compensation and also had another €9,450 in court.
He submitted that Long had fallen into financial difficulties when she got married in 2004 and had started stealing at about that time. He said the thefts stopped shortly after she began a relationship with her current partner.
Mr Byrne said his client was in severe financial difficulty but hoped to have more compensation when the case is next before the court. Judge Yvonne Murphy agreed to put the matter back and ordered that documentation be produced backing up Long’s claim of selling her house. She was remanded on continuing bail.