Bassetlaw council worker stole £60k to pay credit card debt

Kerry Wheatley pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position

A former council finance officer has been jailed after admitting stealing more than £60,000 of public money to pay off her own debts.

Kerry Wheatley, 53, took 21 business rate refunds from a council account, totalling £60,745.44, while working for Bassetlaw District Council in Nottinghamshire.

The council said the fraud was discovered by Wheatley's manager.

She told her managers she had taken the money to pay off her credit card bills.

The council said Wheatley, of Hillside, Whitwell, Derbyshire, had worked for them for about 28 years.

The fraud, which took place between October 2018 and October 2019, was discovered when Wheatley's address came up on the record of a refunded rate payer.

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Wheatley was suspended from her job and later dismissed after an investigation.

The police were informed and she was charged with fraud by abuse of position.

Kerry Wheatley had worked for Bassetlaw District Council for about 28 years

She pleaded guilty to the offence and was jailed for 12 months at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday.

Neil Taylor, chief executive of Bassetlaw District Council, said: "This was an act of fraud involving public money and is a regrettable abuse of a position of trust within this authority.

"The fact that this was one of the council's employees stealing public money is devastating for the organisation."

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