Thomas Cook employee faces jail for fraud
A Thomas Cook employee who embezzled £140,000 from the company in just seven months is facing up to five years in jail.
Alicia Moran, who worked on the currency exchange desk at the Thomas Cook branch in Braehead, Renfrewshire, Scotland, stole foreign currency to pay for jewellery, clothes, electronic items and holidays.
The 33-year-old mother of two discovered a loophole which allowed her to make fraudulent transactions and then manipulate the computer system to cover her tracks.
But suspicious colleagues contacted the police and Moran was arrested at Glasgow Airport after returning from a trip to New York and Las Vegas.
Moran, of Greenock, pleaded guilty to embezzling £140,000 after the amount was reduced from £241,248.
She was due to be sentenced at Paisley Sheriff Court this week but sentencing was deferred after the court heard she has been unable to reach an agreement with Thomas Cook about repaying the cash because their lawyer was not available.
According to a report in the local newspaper, The Gazette, her defence lawyer said a payment plan had been agreed and may strengthen her bid to avoid a jail sentence.
He said the case had also made the single Mum realise she may have been suffering from Bipolar disorder, but he insisted she was not using this as an excuse for her crime.
Sheriff David Pender agreed to defer sentencing for further medical investigations and discussions between Thomas Cook and Moran and adjourned the case.
Moran was a foreign exchange sales consultant at the Braehead Shopping Centre branch of Thomas Cook between February 2 and August 25 2015.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: "This was a significant breach of trust from one of our colleagues. We will not hesitate to bring charges against employees where there is evidence of dishonesty."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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