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Ross-shire bank teller embezzled £42,000 to help fund gambling spree


By Court Reporter

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A Ross-shire bank teller embezzled £42,000 from his employers and then gambled the lot away over a couple of months.

Inverness Sheriff Court was told that Ross Jackson (30) of Gairloch had got into so much debt he pocketed cash totalling £17,000 and banked it in various branches including Dingwall and Inverness.

But when he lost that, he transferred another £25,000 into his own bank account at the Bank of Scotland in the Wester Ross village where he worked. The court heard he hoped he would win enough to repay the bank.

As that was against the bank's policy, his dishonesty was quickly discovered and further checks revealed he had been taking cash from bank bags but recording a different figure in the paperwork to cover up the embezzlement.

This week at Inverness Sheriff Court, Jackson admitted the offence committed between February, 2019 and March 15, 2019. Sentence was deferred until September 24 for a background report.

His bail was continued by Sheriff Margaret Neilson.

Defence solicitor Duncan Henderson said a family member had since repaid the entire amount.

Fiscal depute Alex Swain said the bank investigated Jackson's personal financial situation and discovered his monthly repayments were about the equivalent of what he earned and he had virtually nothing left for everyday living expenses.

He also owed £6000 pounds in credit card debt.

When questioned, he admitted that his debts had snowballed and he gambled in the hope of repaying the money he took from his winnings. But he kept losing.

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