Honiton woman jailed after diverting around £200,000 of charity's money into own accounts
Geraldine Coates, 60, from Kings Road, siphoned off the cash from the Honiton and District Agricultural Association, where she was treasurer
A woman from Honiton has been jailed after diverting around £200,000 of a charity's money into her own accounts over a nine-year period.
Geraldine Coates, 60, of Kings Road, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison at Exeter Crown Court today (10 August) after being found guilty of several counts of fraud.
During the trial, the court heard how Coates was the director of an accounting business in her own named based in Honiton.
The crimes took place while she served as treasurer of the Honiton and District Agricultural Association (HDAA) from 1996 to 2018.
HDAA, a registered charity, supports local agricultural and educational causes through annual donations.
In court Coates was described as ‘an outwardly respectable woman, entrusted by a local charity to look after their finances’, but ‘who succumbed to temptation and took advantage of her position by defrauding them’.
As treasurer, Coates was responsible for signing cheque payments, the paying of bills and day to day running of the charity’s accounts.
However, the court heard she abused her position by falsifying transactions and signatures to channel charity funds into her personal accounts.
The fraudulent activity was discovered in 2018 after financial checks were conducted following a dispute between Coates and HDAA over a missing payment to a supplier.
On this occasion Coates used her husband’s business account to process a payment to a HDAA supplier for nearly £40,000.
However, an email was hacked and the payment transferred to a fraudster’s account.
At the same time Coates wrote two cheques to cover the sum and made them payable to her husband’s business.
When the supplier made HDAA aware that no payment had been received, the funds paid to Coates’ husband’s business were returned to HDAA.
This left her husband seeking redress for the loss. HDAA stated that Coates had not been authorised to pay her husband money, or ask him to make payments on behalf of the charity.
These events triggered further financial checks at HDAA, resulting in more suspicious transactions being uncovered and Coates handing in her resignation in November 2018.
Irregularities included more cheques with unidentified second signatures and missing invoices. It was also shown that Coates had fabricated bank statements to try and cover up her dishonest actions.
HDAA then notified the Charities Commission and reported the matter to Police who started an investigation.
Police say an expert witness report determined that around transactions amounting to between £200,000 and £205,000 appeared to be fraudulent.
Investigations revealed that Coates generally wrote cheques from the charity to herself, falsely claiming they were payments for current or previous suppliers with Devon & Cornwall Police and HM Revenue & Customs both false recipients.
Coates used the money for personal expenses, including home improvements, a holiday and covering the costs of running her business.
Detective Constable Alan Findlay from the Fraud Triage and Support Team, said: “Geraldine Coates over the course of around nine years between 2009 and 2018 betrayed a position of trust she held at a highly thought-of local charity.
“Due to the length of time Coates had been in the role and the good relationship she had with committee members, she had full trust to manage the charity’s finances and accounts in its best interests.
“HDAA promotes agricultural and educational causes and Coates defrauded the charity out of vital funds that could have been used to benefit others, spending the money on her own needs and wants.
“Coates took active steps to try and cover her offending and at no point did she have the courage to admit what she did – even taking the matter to trial despite the strong financial evidence against her.
“I’d like to thank the jury for their attention to detail when considering the case, and welcome the sentence given to Coates. I would also like to thank the HDAA for their co-operation at what was undoubtedly a difficult time for those at the charity whose trust had been betrayed by someone they knew well.”