A sales adviser faked refunds to pocket over £16,000 from a major Inverness store over a 12-week period, the city’s sheriff court was told.
Christopher Munro, 28, was jailed for four months for the “serious abuse of trust” after Sheriff Andrew Berry was told the father of a young child had a previous conviction for embezzlement and another similar charge set to call in court next week. The court was told Munro, of 20 Wallace Place, Culloden, had started with Debenhams in the Eastgate Centre in May 2011 and was caught by accident during an investigation into missing stock.
Within four months of starting work, he had been promoted to a senior sales adviser with responsibility for customer complaints and refunds.
Fiscal depute Karen Smith said: “At the end of 2011, an audit was carried out by the store as stock was missing, although it had nothing to do with Christopher Munro.
“It went further when discrepancies were found in February 2012 when staff checked ‘shorts’ and ‘overs’, the terms used when tills were counted and were either over or short, according to receipts.
“Their attention was drawn to refunds and various other anomalies and one in particular, which was a £600 refund with a specific ID number for the member of staff concerned. There was no receipt for the transaction so procedures had not been properly followed. They then checked CCTV for the date the transaction was carried out and Munro could be seen removing something from the till and putting it in his pocket.
“Further investigations were carried out, and he was spoken to by management and asked about the £600.
“He admitted he had taken it. He was dismissed and the police informed.
“After their investigation, it was discovered that between October 13, 2011 and January 5, 2012, a total of £16,360.15p was missing, all attributed to his ID till number making false refunds. He is due to appear in court next Thursday on a directly similar matter.”
Defence agent Duncan Henderson said: “My client has admitted culpability all along from when he was first interviewed by police. He had no idea the amount he had taken.
“He is willing to repay it at £500 a month. Nothing has been repaid so far because we didn’t know what the actual figures were until they were provided to me by the prosecution.”
Sheriff Berry told Munro: “This is a serious abuse of trust placed in you by an employer who saw fit to promote you. Of critical importance, there is a previous conviction for a similar offence and I wonder if your employers knew about this embezzlement.”