An Edinburgh hotel was defrauded of more than £100,000 by an accounts department  employee, a court heard today.

Janet Davis, 48, a paymaster at the Caledonian Hilton hotel admitted a series of embezzlement  charges when she appeared before Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The court heard that Davis created ten fake staff positions at the Hilton group hotel and then paid their wages into her account.

The sophisticated scam, involving falsified paperwork, bogus signatures and invented time sheets, continued for more than four years.

It was finally revealed when a financial auditor noted that ten different employees were having their wages paid into only two bank accounts. When confronted with her fraud Davis confessed.

Prosecutor Lucy Proctor said: "She outlined exactly how she had carried out the fraud and said it had gone on for between four and five years. She could not say how much she had obtained and was formally dismissed. She freely admitted to police that she has falsified paperwork, made up fictitious employees and time sheets. She showed great remorse throughout the dealings with the police."

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by Andrew Smith

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