A York woman has been jailed after taking nearly £600K from her employers.
York woman jailed for £596,000 fraud against doctor’s practice
Carolyn Lightwing, 55, of St Mary’s York, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position after fraudulently transferring more than £596,000 from her former employers, Elvington Medical Practice, over a period of three years.
She was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
As practice manager she was in charge of the suppliers’ invoices and had access to the practice bank accounts which she abused on a substantial scale.
Discrepancies in the accounts came to light in 2017 once Mrs Lightwing was no longer employed by the practice.
Confessed
Lightwing later confessed to transferring the money into her personal bank accounts that she had set up while falsely claiming to be a supplier to the surgery.
She covered her tracks by taking money from one year’s accounts to balance the previous year’s and the shortfalls only came to light after she left the practice and was no longer able to manipulate the accounts.
Since the fraud was discovered, all the money has been paid back to the practice by Lightwing who said that she took the money to cover bills and intended to pay it back.
Mrs Lightwing pleaded guilty to the fraud at York Magistrates’ Court on 18 June 2019 and was sentenced at York Crown Court on Friday 12 July 2019.
Shocked and upset
“Thankfully the money has since been repaid in full and now that justice has been done, I hope that the staff are able to put this difficult time behind them and continue their vital role in our communities without the distraction that this audacious case has caused.”
Speaking on behalf of the doctors and staff, practice manager Abigail Holdstock said:
“The partners and staff of Elvington Medical Practice were shocked and upset on learning of the crime committed by their trusted, former employee and work colleague.
“The partners have assisted the police with their investigation of the crime since it was discovered in November 2017.
“As far as the partners are aware, there has been no compromise to patient care as a result of Mrs Lightwing’s fraud.
“The partners now wish to move on from what has been a very distressing chapter in the practice’s history.”