A woman from Stoke on Trent has been jailed for twenty months after admitting stealing £73,000 from her employer to fund an online bingo obsession. Between 2009 and late 2011, Elizabeth Sutton embezzled £73,000 from the company, siphoning off money intended to settle debt into her own bank accounts and then using the money to fund her online bingo addiction.
Yesterday, Stafford Crown Court heard that 55-year old Elizabeth Sutton stole £73,566.30 from her employers, between December 2009 and August 2011. The company is now in peril, and is surviving on a month-to-month basis.
As the financial administrator, Sutton had sole access to the business finances of Newcastle based Camelot Automotive between the offence dates. It was her responsibility to pay clients and settle invoices. However, instead of transferring the month to the accounts of clients, she was diverting it to two of her own bank accounts and then spending the stolen money playing online bingo.
Although she stopped stealing in 2011, the offence didn’t come to light for another year when a company chased up £40,000 it was owed. At first it seemed that the error was just clerical, but it soon became apparent that Elizabeth Sutton had deliberately diverted the money to herself to fund her online bingo addiction.
While her defence was loneliness, and mitigation showed that she was alone for long periods of time, the judge jailed Mrs Sutton for 20-months telling her that the effect on the business was considerable and long term. The company directors have had to inject cash into the company, and none of the staff have been able to take a payrise for two years.
With online bingo a booming industry, this really is a timely tale. 10 years ago there were less than twenty online bingo sites to choose from, now there are estimated to be over 350. You can’t turn on your television sets, or use social media without being bombarded with online bingo adverts, and while this isn’t a bad thing, and bingo is a lot of fun, it is always important to remember to gamble responsibly, and never more than you can afford. A lesson Mrs Sutton is likely to be learning from her prison cell.
