Woman jailed after stealing almost £450,000 over 10 years from bank she worked at
She stole an average of more than £3,500 every month for the ten years
A 41-year-old Essex woman has been jailed after spending a decade stealing almost £450,000 form the high street bank she worked at.
Claire Harvey, of Sylvan Close in Canvey, was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Monday (10 February) after detectives and the bank’s own financial investigations established she had made regular payments to accounts she could access.
Between 2013 and 2023, in payments of no more than £200 at a time, Harvey credited 54 different accounts with £435,681.
She was charged with fraud by misrepresentation and acquiring criminal property, the second charge of which is under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, in December 2024 and quickly pleaded guilty at court.
Police were first notified of the concerns around Harvey on 13 July 2023, and executed a warrant at her address on 29 February 2024 to secure evidence on her phone and laptop.
She was released under investigation while enquiries continued, with officers finding messages amounting to admissions of guilt on her devices to her former colleagues.
Her financial records showed a repeat pattern of stealing and spending, with money used for holidays, clothes and days out.
Over the course of her fraud she made more than 2,100 payments for her own spending, with an average of more than £3,500 every month for the ten years.
Detective Constable Matthew McGarry said:
“Harvey showed a consistent pattern of behaviour and a willingness to deceive and defraud her employer.
Had she not been caught there is no reason to believe she would have stopped.
Her spending clearly showed an unwillingness, rather than an inability, to live within her means or kerb her constant frivolous spending.
She now has a prison sentence to reflect on her crime.”