A FORMER bank manager has been ordered to repay £73,000 after being convicted of stealing from customer accounts to pay for her house, wedding, car and pony.

Former HSBC manager Sarah Gibbs stole £282, 000 from customers' accounts and tried to cover her tracks by falsifying internal bank records and transferring monies from branch internal accounts.

The 33-year-old, from Ontario Gardens in Worthing, accessed the accounts of several elderly people and even her own friends.

The irregularities in branch banking records at Goring, Shoreham and Hove branches were spotted by an internal audit prompted by a query from a customer in 2011 who questioned investments allegedly made by Gibbs on their behalf.

Gibbs did not invest the monies but used it for her own benefit to contribute towards a £23,000 deposit for a house, £15,000 towards a new car, £3,500 wedding deposit, £35,000 towards stabling costs for a pony, holidays totalling £7,500 and £30,000 blown on trips to Brighton’s Rendezvous Casino and online gambling.

She had worked for HSBC since 1999 and was a branch manager for several HSBC branches in Sussex between April 2005 and April 2011.

At a crown court hearing at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Gibbs was given a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act for £73,120.

Her conviction follows work by Brighton-based detectives and financial investigators from the Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit in analysing transactions from more than 50 bank accounts operated by Gibbs.

Gibbs pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment.

If she fails to repay the £73,000 judges rule she is able to pay, Gibbs will face a further 12 months in jail.

HSBC have already reimbursed any losses to their account holders including any lost interest, and in civil proceedings they have recouped her staff pension.

Detective Inspector Gill Sole of the Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit said: "Whenever someone has profited from their crime we will pursue them to recover those proceeds, firstly to ensure that victims are compensated, and secondly to ensure that the criminal will not continue to enjoy the benefit of their criminality."