A Dundee HMRC worker who claimed she was a single mum was snared stealing more than 65,000 from the taxman after investigators found Valentine’s Day cards she had exchanged with her husband.
Romantic texts from Nicola Farningham were also found — belying the fact she was not living alone, but instead with her husband who was earning £33,000 a year.
The mum of four was jailed for 21 weeks by a sheriff who also ordered her to hand over more than £40,000 within six months.
Farningham was employed as a tax credits adviser in HMRC’s Dundee call centre where she advised the public about child and working tax credits.
However, she was using that intimate knowledge of the system to scam huge sums of cash.
* Don’t miss the full story in Thursday’s Courier, also available as a digital edition.