Worker steals £52,000 to guzzle Nando’s chicken in scam that continued for EIGHT years before she was rumbled by cops
Accounts manager Kathleen Roberts flashed the stolen cash on 'sofa beds, garden furniture, handbags and fashionable clothing' and shocked colleagues with her actions
A WORKER hooked on Nando’s stole £52,000 from her bosses to gorge on its chicken.
Kathleen Roberts, 47, fed her craving by cooking the books at the business park where she was a trusted accounts manager.
Her scam continued for eight years before she was finally rumbled.
Police found Roberts had blown a huge chunk of the money on Nando’s vouchers.
Yesterday, after the swindler was jailed for two years, her former boss Paul Taylor said: “It’s devastating.
“We could have begun to understand Kate’s motivation if she had stolen from us out of necessity.
"But look at some of the items she bought with the money — Nando’s vouchers, phone top-up cards, sofa beds, garden furniture, handbags and fashionable clothing.”
Roberts, of Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, systematically looted the money from Taylor Business Park in Warrington, Cheshire.
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She concocted fake invoices for work done by contractors, Chester crown court heard.
The spicy food fan pleaded guilty to fraud.
PC Mike Luckett, who led the probe into her fiddle, said: “Roberts relied on her position of trust to siphon money from the business.
“I'm sure her time behind bars will bring home the consequences of her actions.
"I'm pleased to see that all our hard work has resulted in a conviction.
"It sends a message to those tempted by their position that crime definitely doesn't pay and you too could end up sitting in a prison cell."