An office manager who stole almost £1.9m from her employers has been ordered to repay her victims or face a further seven years in prison
Julie McBrien, office manager at Northern Mouldings Limited, committed 26 counts of fraud and money laundering over an eight year period.
In November 2021, McBrien was sentenced to a five and a half year prison sentence for syphoning off almost £1.9m in fraudulent invoices.
On Monday, a proceeds of crime order was granted against McBrien at Dungannon Crown Court.
The court was told her confiscated property and assets fell well below what her victims were owed and that she remained uncooperative.
McBrien’s fraud led Northern Mouldings Limited to the brink of collapse, syphoning off almost £1.9m from her employers to fund a luxury lifestyle.
More than 600 fraudulent transactions were discovered, which resulted in lost orders, redundancies and reduced working hours for the company.
McBrien created false bank statements, forged a former employee’s signature, and generated fraudulent invoices, all to fund a luxury lifestyle in her opulent mansion.
This included £360,000 in general expenditure, £356,000 on property development, £311,000 on interior design, £231,000 on fashion and beauty and £145,000 on jewellery.
A financial investigator who examined McBrien’s accounts and property informed the court that she had sought by way of compensation just shy of £1.9m.
He estimated the recoverable amount of assets to be around £673,000, although it was stressed this was an ‘approximation’ and took into account the equity in McBrien’s house.
Judge Brian Sherrard KC ordered her house and assets to be confiscated. The mortgage company is also seeking to recoup their funds.
He said while the sum of £1.86m accurately amounted to the victims’ loss, the recoverable amount of £673,000 was the available compensation amount.
Sherrard concluded: ‘Payment is to be made by 23 February 2023 and the default period for failure to do so will be seven years imprisonment.’
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