Fraudster posed as accountant to siphon thousands of pounds into own account from Peterborough insurers

A woman posed as a qualified accountant to land a job at a Peterborough insurance firm began siphoning money off into her own accounts, a court has heard.

Gynevra Hall, 50, has been given a suspended sentence at Peterborough Crown Court after admitting taking more than £4,000 when she was employed by the firm.

The court heard how Hall held the role of financial controller at an insurance company in Peterborough for just under two years, but in the summer of 2018 managers began to suspect something wasn’t right and requested to see proof of her qualifications.

She produced a certificate from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) but after liaising with them, her employers were told there was no record of Hall ever sitting any exams and the certificate was found to be fake.

It showed she had passed exams years before they were even introduced onto the course, and it appeared to have been signed by someone who didn’t work for the ACCA at that time.

Hall was immediately suspended from her role and resigned shortly afterwards in July 2018.

After a further investigation, a finance manager noticed Hall had made a number of unauthorised transactions. She had transferred large sums of money into separate accounts on four occasions, totalling more than £4,000.

Following a police investigation, the accounts were all discovered to belong or link back to her.

Hall, of Holbeach St Marks, Spalding, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and four counts of fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 24 months at Peterborough Crown Court this week .

Detective Sergeant Brett Morley, who investigated, said all fraud investigations were taken very seriously. He said: “Hall deceived her employers and went on to abuse her position of trust.

“We take all incidents of fraud very seriously. The investigations can be long and arduous, but we work tirelessly and do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved in this particular investigation for their hard work, determination and patience.”