Woman who stole £1.5m from work could be forced to hand back money

Coleen Muirhead was jailed last year for three years and three months

Prosecutors are planning to recover stolen money from a woman who embezzled £1.5m from her employers.

Coleen Muirhead, 56, of Aberdeen, was jailed last year for taking the money from a metal recycling company.

The money was stolen over six years and spent on holidays, cars, caravans and savings accounts for Muirhead's family.

At a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Lady Ross arranged for the proceeds of crime action to take place in May 2025.

This could allow money and assets gained from her criminal conduct to be confiscated.

Last year, Judge Lord Fairley jailed Muirhead for three years and three months for the crime.

The grandmother had admitted that embezzling £1,524,192.37 while employed at Panda Rosa Metals, in Canal Road, Aberdeen between June 2015 and October 2021.

The previously law-abiding citizen created false accounts to steal money from the firm where she had worked as an administrative assistant since July 2014.

When police raider her home they found purchase details for two static caravans worth £78,077, cars and motorbikes, documentation relating to ISAs for family members, £2,312 in cash and £3,300 in gift vouchers.

She also paid for her son's wedding.

The proceeds of crime hearing against her will take place on 8 May and 9 May next year.