Admin worker who made more than 900k by fleecing her firm ordered to return money
An admin worker who made more than £900,000 by fleecing her firm has been ordered to pay some of the money back or be put behind bars.
Danielle Longstaffe had worked at supply firm Kaefer Limited in Jarrow, South Tyneside, as trusted transport administrator since 2012.
But Newcastle Crown Court heard between September 2021 and May 2022 she used her position to orchestrate a fraud.
Longstaffe, of Church View, Gateshead, was given a suspended jail term in December last year, after she admitted fraud by abuse of position, on the basis she pocketed £370,194.
But at a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at the same court today prosecutors said she benefited by £920,185 through her offending and has £221,818 available to pay back.
Mr Recorder Richard Stubbs ordered her to pay the £221,818 within three months or two years behind
Longstaffe was heavily pregnant when she was sentenced last December.
Her barrister Fiona Lamb told the court at the time: "She is currently suffering from pre-eclampsia. She been an inpatient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for the previous two weeks.
"She has discharged herself to come to the hearing today because she wants to get the matter concluded.
"Pre-eclampsia is a life threatening situation for herself and her unborn son.
"It's a problem with blood pressure, which is obviously increased by stress."
Miss Lamb said Longstaffe has been in no trouble before or since and she committed the offence when she struggled with "interest from loan sharks" and is utterly remorseful to everyone she has let down.
At that hearing Longstaffe was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, with rehabilitation and mental health treatment requirements.