Scottish charity branch manager stole £40k and spent it on holidays and jewellery
Other purchases included IKEA furniture, expensive jewellery and designer perfume.
A manager at a Women’s Aid branch has been jailed for embezzling nearly £40,000 from the charity and spending it on holidays, IKEA furniture and a Weightwatcher’s membership.
Jay Reid, 67, was a manager at Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid in Dunoon when she stole the money over a five-year period between 2016 and 2021.
Reid managed the children’s service at the Dunoon office and had control of the branch’s bank account.
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Her crimes were revealed when other members of staff discovered that payments had not been made to their pensions.
Subsequent investigations found Reid had used a Women’s Aid credit card to make purchases totalling £39,727.
She spent some of the cash on foreign holidays to Tenerife and Amsterdam, as well as vet bills, expensive jewellery, designer perfume and purchases on Amazon.
None of the money was spent on Women’s Aid service users.
Prosecutors said her crimes were an “egregious betrayal of trust” and that Reid had shown “no regard” for their impact.
Reid was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment at Greenock Sheriff Court on Wednesday after a jury found her guilty of embezzlement in December.
Anne Marie Hicks, Procurator Fiscal for North Strathclyde, said: “Jay Reid committed an egregious betrayal of trust by taking advantage of her position to embezzle money from her employers.
“She showed no regard for the impact her crimes would have on vulnerable women and children who relied on support from Women’s Aid or the effect it would have on those trying to run such an important charity.
“The public will rightly be appalled.
“Embezzlement is not a victimless crime. As prosecutors, we are fully committed to tackling financial crime of this kind.”