A WOMAN who defrauded Ifor Williams Trailers of more than £43,000 while working for the company has been spared jail.

Fay Roberts, 59, of Maes Tegid, Bala, was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Mold Crown Court today (August 7).

She had previously admitted a charge of fraud by abuse of position.

Prosecuting, Maria Masellis told the court, while working in an administrative role for the company in Corwen, Roberts began stealing from the company across a period of several months in 2022.

Roberts had a responsibility in her role to transfer cash to the bank, but took a total of £43,628.40 fraudulently.

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On some occasions, she took four-figure sums, and was taking the money primarily to pay off her own debts.

She had previously fallen victim to a scam after paying thousands of pounds to a man online who had claimed he needed money to get his business in the Philippines started.

On November 3, 2022, Roberts, realising her actions had come to the attention of the company, called in sick.

The decision was made to look her work email account to investigate it, while emails were found in the name of “JIK Charles” asking her for money,

She returned to work on November 4, when she “broke down” and admitted stealing money, but claimed she had been blackmailed and defrauded by a male who had purported to work for the tax office in Salford.

Roberts took herself to Bala Police Station later that day after her employment had been terminated.

When interviewed, she said she had taken cash from her employers and converted it into Bitcoin currency.

But she said she had intended to repay the amount once she had received a “forthcoming refund”, believed to have been in the sum of £260,000.

Though, there is no evidence that any such refund was made.

Roberts, who had been employed by Ifor Williams Trailers for some time before she began defrauding the company, was a woman of previous good character.

Representing her, Dafydd Roberts said his client was not “motivated by greed”, having lost all of her money from the “online romance scam” which she had fallen victim to.

“It was not through greed, of wanting a lavish lifestyle; it was her possible naivety, thinking she could recoup some of the money she’d lost,” Mr Roberts said.

He added that she has “always been a hard worker”, is a mother, and is the primary carer for her mother, who suffers from dementia.

Her remorse, he said, is “genuine”, adding that this course of events has been a “very salutary lesson for her”.

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Petts agreed to suspend Roberts’ custodial sentence, but labelled her conduct “reprehensible”.

Judge Petts told her: “You only stopped because your employer began to investigate the discrepancies. It wasn’t a conscious decision on your part.”

Roberts was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days’ rehabilitation activity, and will pay a statutory surcharge.