A 52-year-old woman in Manchester, England has been sentenced to 20 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to have embezzled £31,000(Ksh 4.5M) of the £90,000(Ksh 13,000) that she received in her bank account by error.
Comfort Konadu, who works as a cleaner, received the huge amount of money in her account in October 2019.
The 52-year-old ended up at the Manchester Crown Court for failing to inform anyone.
Manchester Evening News reports that the woman had gone to a charity’s shop on 11 October 2019 to get a £9(Ksh 1300) balance on an item she had purchased.
A mix-up occurred and instead of £9(Ksh 1300) being transferred into her account, a total of £90,000(Ksh 13M) was deposited into the account.
Konadu received the money in her account three days later and she transferred more than £57,000(Ksh 8.2M) to different accounts. One of the accounts belongs to her son.
According to the staff, there was an ‘issue with the machine’.
The charity were informed they would be liable for the loss, because the event was a result of a mistake.
Two staff members were suspended and later fired.
The bank recovered some of the refund but the charity (Royal Mencap Society) lost over £31,000.
Konadu, who is a mother of six, claimed that she had been expecting some money in her account. She later pleaded guilty to theft.
The judge told her: “This was in effect an unexpected windfall into your bank account.
“You ought at that stage to have reported it to both your bank and to Mencap.
“You fell prey to temptation and acted dishonestly.
“You leave this court with a stain on your character.”
Source: Manchester Evening News
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