A serial fraudster who was previously jailed for embezzling almost £900,000 from her employers has appeared back in court to admit conning Scottish Power out of £176,000. Emma Hunt was sentenced to a three-year jail term in 2023 after she was found guilty of taking the massive amount while employed as an office manager with an Edinburgh property firm.
She used the stolen cash to fund a lavish lifestyle, including splashing out on luxury holidays, stays in five-star hotels and top-of-the-range cars. Hunt spent close to £40,000 on a Halloween party at the 16th-century Fenton Tower castle in East Lothian and paid out thousands of pounds on a birthday bash at Musselburgh Racecourse.
She denied the offending but was found guilty by a jury of embezzling £899,164.77 between May 31, 2016, and January 20, 2019. Hunt was released from custody on licence in February last year but was jailed again last month after she failed to repay an agreed sum of £211,436.91 under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
Sheriff Gillian Sharp was told Hunt was unable to repay the money within the allowed 12-month time period and jailed her for two years and 271 days on Wednesday, January 14. Now the 40-year-old crook has admitted her guilt to a new charge of forming a fraudulent scheme and obtaining £176,000 while employed by Scottish Power between May 25, 2021, and July 22, 2023.
She pleaded guilty to the offending under Section 76 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 when she appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday, February 5. The indictment states Hunt drafted and submitted a false job reference to gain a role with the power giants before opening a corporate credit account when she did not have the authorisation to do so.
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She then ordered goods and gift vouchers for her personal use through the account and digitally altered invoices and submitted them for payment by Scottish Power. The court papers state Hunt also altered invoices to include the bank details of people she knew and induced them to transfer money into a PayPal bank account she had access to.
She also submitted false expense claims, used company credit cards for personal purchases, and hired a car for her personal use by using a corporate credit card without authorisation. Hunt, who gave an address in Maryhill, Glasgow, also sold goods to others that she had obtained through the elaborate fraud and caused a total financial loss to Scottish Power of £176,000.
She committed the offences while living at her former home in Coldstream, Scottish Borders, and had been granted bail at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on September 20, 2020. Defence advocate Alan Gravelle told the court it was accepted a prison sentence would be imposed on his client as punishment for the new matter.
The lawyer added Hunt had completed several courses while serving her previous jail term and asked for a report to be prepared as the details may assist in the sentencing. Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer told the court the Crown had a 45-page document detailing the fraud and would produce a shorter written narration into the events at the next calling of the case.
Sheriff Charles Walls said: "Ms Hunt, your bail on this matter will be revoked and you have tendered a guilty plea.
"As your solicitor has advised you, it is inevitable a custodial sentence will be imposed due to the significance of this offence."
Sheriff Walls agreed to the Crown and defence motions and deferred sentence for the preparation of a social work report and written narration to later this month.
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