A former employee of a Scottish social care charity has admitted to embezzling about £40,000 from the accounts of its vulnerable residents.
Sense Scotland, which provides care for vulnerable adults and children with complex needs, has agreed to repay all of the stolen funds, after a former employee admitted taking the money from some of its vulnerable residents over a period of more than three years.
Violet Connor, 67, of Fife, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, where she pleaded guilty to stealing £40,060 from some of the charity’s service users, the court confirmed.
Connor, who was authorised to withdraw money for service users from their bank accounts during her employment, stole the money from a small number of the charity’s residents between April 2019 and September 2022.
She will be sentenced on 27 June.
A spokesperson for Sense Scotland told Third Sector that in October 2022, it found “financial irregularities in the finances of a small number of individuals we support in two of our services”.
They said: “We immediately undertook a financial audit of the services and reported our findings to families, the police, and other relevant authorities and regulatory bodies, working closely with these bodies to assist with their inquiries.”
The spokesperson said that Connor was dismissed by Sense Scotland in November 2022.
When the charity’s finance director contacted Connor to ask what she had done with the stolen money, she told them she had “dwindled” it away, according to reports in The Courier.
The charity has agreed to repay all of the stolen funds itself, with its spokesperson saying: “Sense Scotland spoke with the families and guardians of the individuals affected and agreed to repay all funds.
“The people we support will not be financially disadvantaged as a result of these irregularities.”
Sense Scotland has also reviewed its policies, procedures and systems to “ensure robust management of the finances of the people we support”, the spokesperson said.
They added that the charity was “confident that this is an isolated incident” and that finances in all other Sense Scotland services were in order.
Sense Scotland had a total income of £24.9m and expenditure of nearly £25.5m in the financial year to the end of March 2023, according to its latest accounts filed with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.