Claire Reeves choose to defraud her employer by making hundreds of fake supplier payments to herself, despite being on a good salary plus annual increases and bonuses.
But Judge Peter Cooke said they did not want to acknowledge her 'dishonest streak'. Wilco Manufacturing, located at Tyseley Industrial Estate, was described as a 'medium-sized' company which employed around 25 people and had a typical turnover of £2m to £2.5m. When he checked her computer while she was out of the office he found a pdf document which revealed she had been making payments to seven accounts in her own and her children's names. They were hidden amongst payments to suppliers. In total there were 770 illegal transactions totalling £675,920.23 over the 15-year period.
He told the court in 2009 staff took ten per cent pay cuts and reduced to three and four-day weeks to help the business survive the impact of the global financial crisis. That year Reeves stole £34,000 when the company's entire wage bill for the period was nearly £340,000. "Everyone is anxious to talk about her loving and caring side. Like everybody else there is two sides to her. Let's call a spade a spade. She's been fundamentally dishonest for a decade and a half."