Hove bank worker ordered to pay back £9,000 after fraud (From The Argus)

Hove bank worker ordered to pay back £9,000 after fraud

3:20pm Wednesday 16th June 2010 in News By Ben Parsons, Crime Reporter

A bank worker who paid customers’ cheques into her own account has been ordered to pay back more than £9,000.

Evelyn Girgis, 47, of Old Shoreham Road, Hove, admitted seven frauds earlier this year.

She had spent ten years working for Lloyds TSB in Hove when she was caught stealing cheques.

In March Girgis was handed a suspended 12-month prison sentence and 200 hours of unpaid community work.

At a hearing at Hove Crown Court on Friday, a judge ruled she should pay a confiscation order for £9,129.

Of that, £8,505 will be handed back to her victims as compensation.

If she fails to pay the money by October she will have to serve six months in prison.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Pollard, of Brighton and Hove CID, said: "This is the latest example of the way in which we are now able to return illegal profits to the victims of crimes such as fraud.

“It also demonstrates just how vital the Proceeds of Crime Act is in tackling fraudsters, drug traffickers and other areas of organised crime, showing that crime doesn’t pay, and that we will take money off criminals at every opportunity".