A Fife dental nurse has denied deliberately stealing more than £30,000 from the NHS and trying to cover it up.
Prosecutors allege Susan Veitch, of Striven Place, Glenrothes, embezzled £26,943.98 in cash, as well as cheques to the value of £4,398.76 from the Dental Anaesthetic Clinic at Dunfermline’s Queen Margaret Hospital between April 4, 2012, and June 4, 2017, both dates inclusive.
The 34-year-old is also accused of stealing a bank giro book, claiming she had sent it to another person, and presenting as genuine altered paperwork to staff at NHS Fife which she purported to be copies of genuine banking documentation, all to avoid detection and to defeat the ends of justice.
The case called before Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and Veitch, who has also gone by the surname Shaw, was not present in court for the hearing.
Her defence solicitor David Bell confirmed his client’s not guilty pleas to both charges and a further hearing has been fixed for early in 2021.
He suggested the proceedings, when they do call in Kirkcaldy, could be lengthy.
“This has the potential to be a pretty enormous case,” Mr Bell told the court.
“My understanding of my client’s position is that it’s not in dispute that sums of money were paid by persons to the NHS, the issue is about what happened to the cash and cheques thereafter.”
