Boots PA stole thousands in expense fraud

A personal assistant for Boots stole more than £87,000 from her employer in an expense fraud to fund her cocaine addiction.

Marie Hall, 47, who worked as a PA for four managing directors at the company's base in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, duplicated expense receipts after the firm installed a new system in July 2022.

Nottingham Crown Court heard an internal audit found Hall - who put through the expenses on behalf of two of the directors - had used their login details to approve payments to herself.

On Wednesday, Hall, of Stonebridge Way in Calverton, was sentenced to 21 months in prison suspended for 18 months and given 250 hours of unpaid work to complete.

The court heard it was company policy for directors to approve expenses, however Hall was in a position of trust and did so herself.

When investigated, it was found Hall would input expenses providing her own bank details as the recipient and then log on to a manager's account to approve them.

Prosecutor Declan Austin told the court Hall had taken £87,650.51 from her employer.

The prosecutor added the defendant had taken measures to hide her activity, which included hiding notifications from the expenses system.

The mother-of-one was sacked by Boots and her offences reported to police following an internal audit.

She had provided no comment in interview when she was arrested in 2024, the court heard.

Hall later pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and possession of a Class A drug, namely cocaine.

Sentencing her, Recorder James Dawson said: "You were in a position of trust and you abused that trust in a sophisticated way to fund your cocaine habit."

He added Hall was "remorseful" for her actions and it was "to your credit" she had taken steps to address her drug addiction.

In mitigation, Sian Barber, said cocaine had become a "coping mechanism" for Hall's poor mental health after her mother passed away.

Barber said Hall was "ashamed of her actions" and sorry for what she had done.

She added Hall had been drug-free for more than a year and had a "desire" to get back into work as soon as possible.

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