Charity manager who embezzled thousands from vulnerable residents jailed

A social care charity manager who embezzled more than £40,000 from vulnerable residents has been jailed for 12 months.

Violet Connor, of Glenrothes, stole money from the bank accounts of Sense Scotland users over a three-year period. 

The 67-year-old was sentenced at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court after admitting embezzling money from residents between April 2019 and December 2022. 

The court heard that Connor, who was employed as a locality manager at Sense Scotland, was authorised to withdraw precise amounts of cash for ten service users. 

She would then enter the transaction in a manual paper ledger system at the charity, which cares for vulnerable adults and children who face challenges such as being deaf, blind, or having learning difficulties. 

These withdrawals usually took place once or twice a month. 

In October 2022, Connor was on compassionate leave following a family bereavement and had been due to retire two months later. 

However, a book-keeping discrepancy was noticed while her interim replacement was being shown the process of balancing finance folders for service users overseen by the accused. 

Company officials were alerted and an internal enquiry subsequently revealed Connor had made excessive withdrawals totalling £40,060 from the accounts of residents.

She will now be subject to confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation. 

Helen Nisbet, Procurator Fiscal for Tayside, Central and Fife, said: “This offence was committed against some of the most vulnerable in our community and was a very serious breach of trust.  

“We will always prosecute in such cases where there is evidence to do so.”