News / Reynolds fined for defrauding hall
A WOMAN who embezzled £800 after being left as the sole trustee of a busy public hall in Shetland was fined at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Sandra Reynolds, of 12 Berry Road, Scalloway, admitted defrauding her local hall between 4 April 2009 and 7 January 2010 after all her fellow trustees had resigned.
Initially the 55 year old had been charged with taking a total of £8,268.37 from Scalloway public hall and various other organisations and businesses in the isles, but the charge was reduced when she appeared in court.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Reynolds had treated the hall as “her own personal fiefdom” and that the rest of the trustees left because they were not prepared to work with her.
He said a lack of financial controls had given her the opportunity to take the money which she used to pay her own bills, and it was only when the charity regulator OSCR investigated that the fraud came to light.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said that his client had tried to keep the hall going on her own after everyone else left, but had been overwhelmed and out of her depth. She had already paid back £200 and had brought the remaining £600 to court, he said.
Sheriff Graeme Napier fined Reynolds £500 and ordered her to pay over the £600 in compensation.
He said that while she probably felt she should never have been left in sole charge of the hall, what she had done amounted to “a significant breach of trust”.
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