Two crooked Highland hotel workers who were caught defrauding its Spanish owner of thousands of pounds have avoided jail and don’t even have to repay their victim.
Former Balmacara Hotel general manager James McEachern, 45, and his 53-year-old chef Graham Smith conspired to steal money from the Kyle of Lochalsh hotel.
McEachern hired a teenage family member to work for 30 days but paid him £8,770.98 when he was only due £1,980.
A further £18,226.16 was also paid into a bank account under the fictitious employee name David Smith but it was instead received by Graham Smith, who was recruited by McEachern in February 2019.
The pair split the money between them but eventually pled guilty to embezzlement and creating a fraudulent scheme at Inverness Sheriff Court.
When they reappeared in the dock for sentencing on Friday, Sheriff Sara Matheson spared them jail and instead ordered McEachern to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work and Smith was given 225 hours.
McEachern’s lawyer said he ‘has no savings to repay the money’
McEachern of Sealladh na Beinne, Fort William, had previously admitted stealing £6,790.98 from the hotel’s owner Victor Navarro between November 30 2018 and October 29 2019.
And both McEachern and Smith, of Cearnag, Chabar Feidh, Broadford, had also pled guilty to inventing the employee David Smith to induce Mr Navarro to pay them £18,226.16 between June 14 2019 and December 10 2019.
However, McEachern’s solicitor Natalie Paterson urged Sheriff Matheson not to jail her client, saying an alternative of unpaid hours could be imposed.
“On the whole, the background report is positive and there is remorse,” she explained.
“It is accepted this is a serious matter but he has no savings to repay the money although he is in full-time employment.”
Smith’s lawyer Graham Mann also asked the sheriff to steer away from imprisoning his client, who now works as a taxi driver.
Mr Mann added: “He appreciates it was a terrible breach of trust but sees his role as a lesser one. His could be dealt with by unpaid hours.”
Sheriff Matheson made no order for the pair to pay compensation to Mr Navarro.
At a previous hearing, fiscal depute Emily Hood detailed the pair’s crimes.
“Mr Navarro noticed that the money being paid out at the hotel in salaries was higher than he expected,” she told the court.
“As such, he requested a copy of the payroll and further information from the accounting company.”
Balmacara Hotel has been plagued by dodgy workers with sticky fingers
She added that another employee at the hotel had met with Mr Navarro in Valencia at the end of October 2019 and he could confirm who worked there and who didn’t.
“During this meeting, it was discovered that payments were being made to a fictitious employee who had never worked there.”
Ms Hood added that the whistleblower was also able to confirm that the family relative had only worked there for 30 days.
McEachern and Smith were questioned by the police in November 2020 and they both confessed to their dishonest acts.
James McEachern and Graham Smith aren’t the first dishonest employees to have been hired to work at the Balmacara Hotel.
Marian Aitkenhead helped herself to more than £3,000 of the hotel’s cash between May 16 until July 1 2018.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told Inverness Sheriff Court in June last year that Aitkenhead transferred £3,007 into her then partner’s bank account over a period of months.
When he saw the transaction, which he didn’t recognise, he quizzed her about it and was told it was perfectly legal and the hotel knew about it, Ms Hood said.
But further investigations revealed that the hotel knew nothing about the transfer and the police were informed.
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