Crooked IT expert at Dundee city council swindled £1 million of public cash

A CROOKED council IT expert who admitted swindling more than £1million of public cash was last night behind bars.

Mark Conway, 52, began siphoning off local authority money into his own bank account to pay online gambling debts.

His got away with the fraud for seven years before bosses at Dundee City Council grew suspicious.

Yesterday he admitted fleecing them out of £1,065,085 when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Prosecutor Rosemary Guinnane described how Conway had been the council’s top financial IT expert and had “unrestricted access” to their computer systems.

But he exploited a loophole to send cash to his own account while pretending it was going to genuine suppliers.

Ms Guinnane said: “During 2009, the accused had become indebted due to online gambling.

“To pay off a credit card bill, he created an entry to reflect a legitimate sum invoiced.”

Conway repeated the scam without being spotted by council audits.

One worker was suspicious of money going to a Nationwide account which was later traced to Conway.

But he claimed it had been a dummy fraud test and insisted no money had gone out.

He was finally rumbled when he put through a payment to himself last May.

Judge Graeme Buchanan QC remanded Conway, of Brechin, Angus, ahead of sentencing later this month.

He warned him: “This is a very serious matter. There is really only one possible disposal.”

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