A 44-year-old secretary is facing jail after embezzling £55,000 from a Ninewells Hospital charity fund.
Lorraine Warden skimmed the money from the Tayside Otolaryngology Fund over a five-year-period after falling behind on payday loan repayments.
Warden, who has no previous convictions, forged signatures and cashed 62 fraudulent cheques.
Her deception was only uncovered after the fund’s trustee noticed a number of suspicious transactions.
Last night Dundee University confirmed Warden was sacked in December 2012 after a disciplinary hearing.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard the fund pays for medical staff to undergo further training and career development and is funded largely by donations.
At the time, Warden was employed as a secretary at Ward 26, assisted with the management of the fund and would occasionally carry out administrative duties for Stephen Jones and Robin Blair, the fund’s then and previous trustees.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson said: “When Mr Jones took over as the sole signatory of the fund in 2010, only he and the accused would have access to a spreadsheet which records all the financial transactions in relation to the charity, with the accused recording any changes to the spreadsheet.”
In October 2012, Mr Jones found discrepancies totalling £17,000 and spoke to Warden, who said she would update missing information.
A few months later Mr Jones noticed a number of stubs on a fund cheque book were blank.
The bank confirmed three cheques totalling £3,792 had been cashed to Warden.
Mr Jones informed Dundee University, Warden’s employers, and an internal inquiry was carried out, which resulted in the accused being suspended.
Further investigation by the police revealed a large number of cheques had been made out to Warden, including one to her daughter.
Mr Jones and Mr Blair confirmed none of the signatures on the cheques was theirs.
Miss Robertson said: “It was eventually established the accused had cashed 62 fraudulent cheques.
“Through her actions she embezzled a total of £55,000.
“When the allegations were put to her by police, she stated, ‘I took out payday loans and when I couldn’t pay, I took money from the account’.”
Warden, of Dalgetty Court, Muirhead, admitted embezzling £55,000 between January 2007 and August 2012 while employed as a secretary of NHS and Dundee University and assisting with management of the Tayside Otolaryngology Fund at Ward 26, Ninewells Hospital.
Sheriff Elizabeth Munro deferred sentence on Warden until February 10 and continued her bail.