Payroll clerk splurged on Mulberry handbags after £50,000 Chesterfield firm theft

“Unhappy” employee Loredana Ghioca, 34, made refunds to her own accounts while working at Sheepbridge hot tub firm Superior Wellness.

Prosecutor Becky Allsop told Chesterfield Magistrates Court how Ghioca pilfered the money over six months between March and September 2021.

The penny dropped with bosses at the firm when a “suspicious” transaction for over £7,000 was made the week after Ghioca resigned in September last year, the court heard.

Ms Alsop said: “The defendant was a payroll clerk and finance assistant - as part of her role she would undertake to make refunds.

“She was not happy in her work and had asked for a pay rise, in September she sent a text to her HR supervisor saying she was leaving - she did not return.

“Later that week a suspicious transaction for £7,800 was made and the company undertook a review.”

The prosecutor said refunds totalling £50,883 made to credit card numbers led to the defendant’s arrest - during which Ghioca admitted making the refunds to her own accounts.

Ms Allsop said: “Some of the money went on bills, she used some to go abroad and purchased two Mulberry handbags However, she still had £15,000 in her account.”

The defendant, of Horsehead Lane, Bolsover, admitted six counts of fraud by abuse of position.

The court heard the starting point in terms of sentence for the fraud was two-and-a-half years, which was beyond magistrates’ sentencing powers.

Ms Allsop said: “This is a breach of trust and given the number of offences and the length of the offending the crown would submit this is substantially beyond your powers.”

Sending her case to Derby Crown Court for sentence on September 9, a magistrate bailed Ghioca unconditionally.

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