A woman who was jailed for defrauding two construction firms of more than £500,000 has been ordered to repay more than £80,000 of the funds she embezzled.
Stephanni Houston, 41, of Ayr, was sentenced to 38 months in prison in November 2023 for stealing £516,000 over a four-year period, Scotland’s Crown Office said.
The former office worker has now been ordered by Kilmarnock Sheriff Court to pay back £81,589.86 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The court has made a confiscation order for the sum and recorded that the benefit of criminal conduct was £516,268.98.
“Houston, also known as Bryden, was convicted at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court after she admitted defrauding £253,281.30 while working as an office administrator at Kelburne Construction in Kilmarnock from February 2017 to January 2019,” the Crown Office said.
“Months later, she started embezzling £262,987.68 while working as a bookkeeper for WM Donnelly & Co Ltd in East Kilbride, taking the cash between May 2019 and March 2021.”
A compensation order of £41,610.83 has now been awarded to Wm Donnelly & Co Ltd and a second compensation order of £39,979.03 was awarded to Kelburne Construction.
The confiscation orders can be revisited if further assets are identified in the future, to pay towards the full amount that was determined as the benefit of the crime.
Sineidin Corrins, deputy procurator fiscal for serious casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “This confiscation underscores the fact that prosecution of those involved in financial crime does not stop at criminal conviction and sentencing.
“Even after that conviction was secured, the Crown pursued Proceeds of Crime action to ensure the funds Stephanni Houston obtained illegally were confiscated.
“Confiscation orders have ongoing financial consequences, meaning we can seek to recover further assets from this individual in the future to reflect the full amount.”
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Nicola Harley