Orkney businesswoman Lisa Groundwater has been jailed for two years after trying to commit frauds totalling £1.5million.
The 38-year-old mother-of-three admitted depositing five cheques at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Kirkwall, which all bounced.
Fiscal Sue Foard told Kirkwall Sheriff Court the money was all paid into a deposit account held by Groundwater, who had access to the money during the clearing process.
The transactions had left the bank £485,021.99 out of pocket.
Fraud investigation launched by bank
Fraud investigators from the bank were called in on April 11, 2019 after the last of the five cheques, for £610,000, bounced.
Defence solicitor Mhyrin Hill said: “It was clearly offending that involved conscious and planned steps to provide funds to which she was unentitled.
“The use to which these funds were used is slightly unclear though a substantial sum has been recovered.
“She has expressed her remorse for her behaviour and realises the implications it has had for her family.
“Orkney is a tight-knit community and it’s very unlikely that she and her family will ever have the life that they had before this offence was brought to light.”
The offences occurred between January 2019 and March 2019.
Orkney police welcome jail sentence
Detective Sergeant Marcus Shearer said: “There are a number of victims to the crimes with some having lost substantial amounts of money.
Lisa Groundwater (38) from Orkney has been sentenced to two years in prison after committing frauds with a total value of £1.5 million. More details here: https://t.co/hUk0ZkJ5So pic.twitter.com/OkTGQSBI32
— Northern Police (@northernPolice) March 18, 2022
“We are thankful to the witnesses that have come forward and reported these incidents as this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.
“Groundwater’s sentence sends a clear message to those acting in such a manner that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.
“We are fully committed to bringing offenders to justice to further safeguard our communities.”
