An oil industry executive with a previous conviction for embezzlement stole more than £1.3 million from her employers, a court has been told.
Jacqueline McPhee, 46, pocketed £1,376,935 while working as the vice-president for finance at Altus Intervention in Aberdeen between March 2013 and April 2014.
The high court in Edinburgh heard yesterday how McPhee already earned £146,848 a year from the firm, which supplies equipment for North Sea projects. But she hatched a complicated scam to divert funds from the business and used the cash to subsidise a luxury lifestyle.
Alison Di Rollo, prosecuting, told the court that McPhee spent £80,000 buying a Range Rover Sport car, up to £70,000 on a new garage and driveway and £30,000 on a summer house in her garden. She also splashed out £52,000 on a new kitchen for her home.
McPhee, who was given 300 hours community service 16 years ago for stealing £250,000 from a previous employer, spent the rest of the cash on foreign holidays and designer clothes.
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McPhee, who is living with her parents in a caravan in Arbroath, is currently embroiled in a divorce battle. She also faces proceeds of crime action and the possibility of a jail sentence.
At the high court, McPhee pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzlement.
Yesterday, Ms Di Rollo told the court that McPhee had one previous conviction for embezzlement. She was given community service and probation in October 2000 after pleading guilty at Paisley sheriff court.
On that occasion, she took £250,000 whilst working as a finance manager with Inchinnan-based Inventec in 1999.
Ms Di Rollo told the court that McPhee had full “oversight” of Altus’s finances and had the trust of her bosses.
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“She had control of monies for the company’s operations in the UK and west Africa,” she said.
“She had autonomy over approval of invoices received for payment with full access to company bank accounts.
“She enjoyed a high degree of responsibility within the company and was in a position of considerable trust.”
The court heard that McPhee’s husband was the sole director of a company called Craigie Knowe Limited, a contractor’s firm which was registered to the family’s home in Aberdeen.
The court heard that McPhee started using her husband’s company to carry out the frauds but in 2013 one of the finance managers noticed high-value payments being made into the Craigie Knowe account. Following investigations, staff confirmed that Altus Intervention had not contracted with, or otherwise engaged in any legitimate business with Craigie Knowe and that all of these payments were fraudulent. Police then launched an investigation.