Bank teller stole £150,000 to help pay deposit on a flat

A BANK teller embezzled £150,000 in cash and used some of it to pay the deposit on a flat, a court heard yesterday.

Janie Cameron, 29, a Royal Bank of Scotland customer service adviser, stole cash from her till every day over a two-year period.

She created fake transactions in the bank's system to cover up for the money she was stealing. She was eventually caught when another member of staff noticed that regular large cash transactions were being processed under her system-user name.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday, Cameron, of Woodend Court, Glasgow, admitted embezzling 150,000 from the Stonelaw Road branch in Rutherglen between April 2004 and July 2006.

Prosecutor Michelle Tollan told the court that bank employee Karen McNutt visited the branch in June 2006 to carry out a routine inspection of transactions.

She noticed that a number of large cash transactions were being processed by Cameron, and this led to a full investigation being carried out.

Ms Tollan said: "Investigations revealed that the accused had embezzled money from the bank by removing cash from her teller position.

"She then concealed her activities by entering fictitious manual transactions on the bank's computer system."

The court heard that Cameron was suspended from duty and called to a meeting at the bank's headquarters.

Ms Tollan added: "She told bosses that she had used the cash to fund a deposit on a flat and to pay off around 70,000 of debt."

Police were notified and Cameron was charged with embezzling the money.

During her police interview, Cameron told officers that she had begun shopping using her credit cards and things quickly began "snowballing".

She claimed that she started taking money from the bank to make her monthly payments.

Ms Tollan told the court that none of the money had been repaid.

Defence lawyer Ken Sinclair said his client had run up massive credit card bills after splitting up from her fianc.

Mr Sinclair said: "She went out and bought things she shouldn't have on credit cards, because this went some way to alleviate her pain from the break-up."

Sheriff Sam Cathcart deferred sentence until next month for background reports, and Cameron was released on bail.