Underpaid Employee Busted For Funneling Business Funds To Personal Account

A 44-year-old woman was handed a 30-month sentence for allegedly diverting company funds to her account over two years. The suspect was identified as Cheryl Shackley who reportedly stole about £51,000 from a letting agency because she felt she was not being paid right.

According to reports, Shackley funneled funds to her account over those two years. All of it was unearthed when the owner, Kevin O’Hare discovered a discrepancy. He checked one of the company’s bank accounts and found that it was £30,000 lower than he was expecting.

The 44-year-old has been arrested but initially tried to pin the blame on O’Hare. She alleged that it was the owner who purposely diverted the funds to her account so that he could avoid paying taxes.

As a result of Shackley’s claims, an investigation was needed. This resulted in delays with O’Hare falling ill as a result of it. He feared he would die before the woman got her due. Shackley appeared at Liverpool Crown Court recently per reports.

According to prosecutor Martine Snowden, the theft happened from May 2016 to April 2018 when Shackley was working for Formby -based Art History Ltd.

One of the alleged tactics of Shackley was that she transferred funds directly from the business account of Arthouse Ltd into her personal account. This reportedly happened 119 times. The IP addresses tied to the transactions were analyzed. It showed that many of the transactions happened at the 44-year-old’s home.

Aside from this, it was also discovered that Shackley arranged for five of the firm’s tenants to pay their rent directly into her bank account. This netted roughly two years of monthly payments that totaled £19,000.

Snowden also revealed that O’Hare was working to build a nest egg for his ill son. But it appears Shackley was also dealing with a health problem of his own.

She claims that she resorted to the diversion of funds because she needed to attend to his mother who was suffering from dementia. However, Judge Neil Flewitt QC felt that this was not something that would let her off her crimes.

“You were dissatisfied with what you were being paid and felt you were entitled to more and the way you dealt with that was not to raise it with your employer or seek alternative work but to help yourself,” Judge Flewitt stated.