Embezzling grandmother ordered to repay £668,000

Coleen Muirhead was jailed in 2023

An Aberdeen grandmother who stole more than £1.5m from her employers has been ordered to repay £670,00.

Coleen Muirhead, 57, spent the money on holidays, cars, caravans and savings accounts for her family.

She was jailed for three years and four months in 2023 after she admitted embezzlement from the metal recycling firm.

Muirhead has been ordered to repay £668,726 the High Court in Glasgow under Proceeds of Crime laws.

The first offender channelled funds to a fake client while working as an administrative assistant.

But a senior partner in the firm reviewed company records and noticed that funds were down, and the crime came to light.

Depute procurator fiscal Sineidin Corrins, at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: "Coleen Muirhead committed an egregious betrayal of trust by taking advantage of her position to embezzle money from her employers.

"Embezzlement is not a victimless crime. We take such criminality very seriously.

"This confiscation order underscores the fact that prosecutorial action against those involved in financial crime does not stop at criminal conviction and sentence."