Woman who defrauded company out of £370k avoids jail because she’s pregnant

A woman in who was found to have defrauded her company out of £370,000 has .

Danielle Longstaffe, 32, worked for Kaefer Ltd as a transport administrator in a role she had held since 2012. She said that she defrauded the firm out of enormous sums because she was being chased by loan sharks.

heard she transferred £218,000 to herself and others and also hired vehicles using the company’s supplier.

In sentencing, the judge said that he had to have regard for Longstaffe’s unborn child and that would ensure that she did not give birth in prison.

He said: “I have to take into account the impact on any pregnant woman. I have to have regard to the interests of the unborn child you carry.

“Ordinarily speaking I would say such a crime demanded immediate custody. However the welfare of your unborn child takes precedence and must.”

Longstaffe had come under suspicion after a boss realised that between £80,000 and £90,000 had gone missing between April and May 2022.

When confronted she confessed and helped her employer identify how much money she had stolen and where it had gone. In total, there were £218,000 of unauthorised banking transactions.

There was also further fraudulent activity in relation unauthorised vehicle hire, using a supplier the company used. That resulted in 33 vehicles being missing. The total value of the cars and repairs was £141,000.

There was also more than £10,000 of unauthorised use of a company credit card. The total value of the fraud was £370,194. The company said there were also outstanding Tyne Tunnel and parking charges worth £19,000.

Longstaffe, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to two years suspended for two years with a mental health treatment requirement.

Recorder Harry Vann told her: “It’s clear from banking records and what you said interview you took advantage of your position in a company where you had worked for nine years and decided, suddenly, after a period of successful employment, to start stealing enormous sums, they were enormous sums every single month.”

The judge said 300 of her colleagues were impacted by Longstaffe’s actions. But he said she has a history of mental ill health and cares for her elderly grandmother.

Clare Anderson, defending, said: “She acknowledges this is serious criminal offending and that she’s at serious risk of an immediate custodial sentence.

“This started because of difficulties she got herself into because of loan sharks. She was a well-respected employee at that company for nine years. Unfortunately, she found an easy way to access cash.”