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Edinburgh Reporter
3 days ago
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Edinburgh Sheriff Court news – Finance worker admits embezzlement
A finance worker embezzled more than £400,000 to feed his out of control gambling habit while he was employed at an agricultural consultancy firm. David Proudfoot was employed as a bookkeeper with Andersons Northern Ltd when he began transferring huge sums of cash from the accounts of two historic Scots estates into his own. Proudfoot managed to cover up his deceit by producing fake invoices and using bogus HMRC tax references while working with the company between 2012 and 2022. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 48-year-old had spent 'the overwhelming majority' of the stolen cash to fund his gambling habit with online sites including Betfair and Bet 365. Proudfoot pleaded guilty to embezzling £439,500 while employed with Andersons Northern Ltd, Station Road, Musselburgh, East Lothian, when appeared at the capital court on Tuesday. (CORR) Andersons Northern Ltd provides services to farming and non-farming businesses including financial planning, farm business administration and IT and software design. Prosecutor Ruaridh Allison told the court the agricultural firm has around 150 clients including the Bemesyde Estate in the Scottish Borders and the Auchlyne Estate in Perthshire. Mr Allison said the Bemesyde Estate was owned by Earl Haig of Bemesyde but was largely run by his wife Lady Jane Haig while the Auchlyne Estate was owned by sole trader Emma Paterson. The court was told Proudfoot, of Penicuik, Midlothian, had responsibilities for 'managing tax affairs and VAT returns for some of the client estates' and the scam was uncovered in 2022. The fiscal depute said: 'The offence came to light in August 2022 when the accountants of the Bemesyde Estate identified a VAT anomaly dating back to November 2021. 'The anomaly was £20,000 which was sufficient for an internal investigation to be met.' Mr Allison said the accountancy firm contacted Andersons Northern Ltd and Proudfoot said he would investigate the anomaly but had subsequently 'failed to do so'. A director of Andersons Northern then conducted his own investigation into the situation and discovered financial transactions were being paid into Proudfoot's personal bank account. A larger review of all the accounts being managed by the bookkeeper was conducted and further payments from both estates were discovered and the police were contacted. Mr Allison said a police investigation found 'over 200 payments disguised as payments for invoices' totalling £108,922.45 were made from the Bemesyde Estate account to Proudfoot between May 2012 and July 2022. The court heard the missing funds went unnoticed as estate bosses had previously allowed Proudfoot to buy products on their behalf and he would be later reimbursed. The fiscal said further payments amounting to more than £115,000 had also been made into Proudfoot's account under the reference of HMRC as he handled payments for two estate employees. The police investigation uncovered a similar scam involving the Auchlyne Estate where Proudfoot had managed to embezzle more than £200,000 between 2014 and 2022. Mr Allison said: 'Tax was being legitimately paid to HMRC by the accused but additional payments had been set and disguised as legitimate payments. 'The police then reviewed the accused's own bank statements in an effort to see where the money had been spent and the overwhelming majority appears to have been spent on gambling. 'They identified the accused has accounts with both Bet 365 and Betfair and payments made to those accounts totals hundreds of thousands of pounds.' Proudfoot was arrested in June 2023 and was said to have given officers 'a full, frank and detailed account of his embezzlement' and had explained the methods he had used to take the money. Sheriff Julius Komorowski granted Proudfoot bail and deferred sentence for the preparation of social work reports to next month. David Proudfoot outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court PHOTO Alexander Lawrie Like this: Like Related
Scotsman
30-04-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Midlothian man pleads guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 to fund gambling habit
Watch more of our videos on and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now A finance worker embezzled more than £400,000 to feed his out of control gambling habit while he was employed at an agricultural consultancy firm. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... David Proudfoot was employed as a bookkeeper with Andersons Northern Ltd when he began transferring huge sums of cash from the accounts of two historic Scots estates into his own. Proudfoot managed to cover up his deceit by producing fake invoices and using bogus HMRC tax references while working with the company between 2012 and 2022. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 48-year-old had spent 'the overwhelming majority' of the stolen cash to fund his gambling habit with online sites including Betfair and Bet 365. David Proudfoot outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court | Alexander Lawrie Proudfoot pleaded guilty to embezzling £439,500 while employed with Andersons Northern Ltd, Station Road, Musselburgh, East Lothian, when appeared at the capital court on Tuesday. Andersons Northern Ltd provides services to farming and non-farming businesses including financial planning, farm business administration and IT and software design. Prosecutor Ruaridh Allison told the court the agricultural firm has around 150 clients including the Bemesyde Estate in the Scottish Borders and the Auchlyne Estate in Perthshire. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Allison said the Bemesyde Estate was owned by Earl Haig of Bemesyde but was largely run by his wife Lady Jane Haig while the Auchlyne Estate was owned by sole trader Emma Paterson. The court was told Proudfoot, of Penicuik, Midlothian, had responsibilities for 'managing tax affairs and VAT returns for some of the client estates' and the scam was uncovered in 2022. The fiscal depute said: 'The offence came to light in August 2022 when the accountants of the Bemesyde Estate identified a VAT anomaly dating back to November 2021. The anomaly was £20,000 which was sufficient for an internal investigation to be met.' Mr Allison said the accountancy firm contacted Andersons Northern Ltd and Proudfoot said he would investigate the anomaly but had subsequently 'failed to do so'. A director of Andersons Northern then conducted his own investigation into the situation and discovered financial transactions were being paid into Proudfoot's personal bank account. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A larger review of all the accounts being managed by the bookkeeper was conducted and further payments from both estates were discovered and the police were Allison said a police investigation found 'over 200 payments disguised as payments for invoices' totalling £108,922.45 were made from the Bemesyde Estate account to Proudfoot between May 2012 and July 2022. The court heard the missing funds went unnoticed as estate bosses had previously allowed Proudfoot to buy products on their behalf and he would be later reimbursed. The fiscal said further payments amounting to more than £115,000 had also been made into Proudfoot's account under the reference of HMRC as he handled payments for two estate employees. The police investigation uncovered a similar scam involving the Auchlyne Estate where Proudfoot had managed to embezzle more than £200,000 between 2014 and 2022. Mr Allison said: 'Tax was being legitimately paid to HMRC by the accused but additional payments had been set and disguised as legitimate payments. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The police then reviewed the accused's own bank statements in an effort to see where the money had been spent and the overwhelming majority appears to have been spent on gambling. They identified the accused has accounts with both Bet 365 and Betfair and payments made to those accounts totals hundreds of thousands of pounds.' Proudfoot was arrested in June 2023 and was said to have given officers 'a full, frank and detailed account of his embezzlement' and had explained the methods he had used to take the money. Sheriff Julius Komorowski granted Proudfoot bail and deferred sentence for the preparation of social work reports to next month.
Daily Record
30-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Crooked bookkeeper stole over £400k from Scots estates to fund gambling habit
A crooked finance worker embezzled more than £400,000 to feed his out of control gambling habit while he was employed at an agricultural consultancy firm. David Proudfoot was employed as a bookkeeper with Andersons Northern Ltd when he began transferring huge sums of cash from the accounts of two historic Scots estates into his own. Proudfoot managed to cover up his deceit by producing fake invoices and using bogus HMRC tax references while working with the company between 2012 and 2022. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 48-year-old had spent 'the overwhelming majority' of the stolen cash to fund his gambling habit with online sites including Betfair and Bet 365. Proudfoot pleaded guilty to embezzling £439,500 while employed with Andersons Northern Ltd, Station Road, Musselburgh, East Lothian, when appeared at the capital court on Tuesday. (CORR) Andersons Northern Ltd provides services to farming and non-farming businesses including financial planning, farm business administration and IT and software design. Prosecutor Ruaridh Allison told the court the agricultural firm has around 150 clients including the Bemesyde Estate in the Scottish Borders and the Auchlyne Estate in Perthshire. Mr Allison said the Bemesyde Estate was owned by Earl Haig of Bemesyde but was largely run by his wife Lady Jane Haig while the Auchlyne Estate was owned by sole trader Emma Paterson. The court was told Proudfoot, of Penicuik, Midlothian, had responsibilities for 'managing tax affairs and VAT returns for some of the client estates' and the scam was uncovered in 2022. The fiscal depute said: 'The offence came to light in August 2022 when the accountants of the Bemesyde Estate identified a VAT anomaly dating back to November 2021. 'The anomaly was £20,000 which was sufficient for an internal investigation to be met.' Mr Allison said the accountancy firm contacted Andersons Northern Ltd and Proudfoot said he would investigate the anomaly but had subsequently 'failed to do so'. A director of Andersons Northern then conducted his own investigation into the situation and discovered financial transactions were being paid into Proudfoot's personal bank account. A larger review of all the accounts being managed by the bookkeeper was conducted and further payments from both estates were discovered and the police were contacted. Mr Allison said a police investigation found 'over 200 payments disguised as payments for invoices' totalling £108,922.45 were made from the Bemesyde Estate account to Proudfoot between May 2012 and July 2022. The court heard the missing funds went unnoticed as estate bosses had previously allowed Proudfoot to buy products on their behalf and he would be later reimbursed. The fiscal said further payments amounting to more than £115,000 had also been made into Proudfoot's account under the reference of HMRC as he handled payments for two estate employees. The police investigation uncovered a similar scam involving the Auchlyne Estate where Proudfoot had managed to embezzle more than £200,000 between 2014 and 2022. Mr Allison said: 'Tax was being legitimately paid to HMRC by the accused but additional payments had been set and disguised as legitimate payments. 'The police then reviewed the accused's own bank statements in an effort to see where the money had been spent and the overwhelming majority appears to have been spent on gambling. 'They identified the accused has accounts with both Bet 365 and Betfair and payments made to those accounts totals hundreds of thousands of pounds.' Proudfoot was arrested in June 2023 and was said to have given officers 'a full, frank and detailed account of his embezzlement' and had explained the methods he had used to take the money. Sheriff Julius Komorowski granted Proudfoot bail and deferred sentence for the preparation of social work reports to next month.
Edinburgh Live
30-04-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Live
Crooked East Lothian man swindled £400k from company that employed him
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A crooked finance worker embezzled more than £400,000 to feed his out of control gambling habit while he was employed at an agricultural consultancy firm. David Proudfoot was employed as a bookkeeper with Andersons Northern Ltd when he began transferring huge sums of cash from the accounts of two historic Scottish estates into his own. Proudfoot managed to cover up his deceit by producing fake invoices and using bogus HMRC tax references while working with the company between 2012 and 2022. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the 48-year-old had spent 'the overwhelming majority' of the stolen cash to fund his gambling habit with online sites including Betfair and Bet 365. Proudfoot pleaded guilty to embezzling £439,500 while employed with Andersons Northern Ltd, Station Road, Musselburgh, East Lothian, when appeared at the capital court on Tuesday. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages Andersons Northern Ltd provides services to farming and non-farming businesses including financial planning, farm business administration and IT and software design. Prosecutor Ruaridh Allison told the court the agricultural firm has around 150 clients including the Bemesyde Estate in the Scottish Borders and the Auchlyne Estate in Perthshire. Mr Allison said the Bemesyde Estate was owned by Earl Haig of Bemesyde but was largely run by his wife Lady Jane Haig while the Auchlyne Estate was owned by sole trader Emma Paterson. The court was told Proudfoot, of Penicuik, Midlothian, had responsibilities for 'managing tax affairs and VAT returns for some of the client estates' and the scam was uncovered in 2022. The fiscal depute said: 'The offence came to light in August 2022 when the accountants of the Bemesyde Estate identified a VAT anomaly dating back to November 2021. 'The anomaly was £20,000 which was sufficient for an internal investigation to be met.' Mr Allison said the accountancy firm contacted Andersons Northern Ltd and Proudfoot said he would investigate the anomaly but had subsequently 'failed to do so'. A director of Andersons Northern then conducted his own investigation into the situation and discovered financial transactions were being paid into Proudfoot's personal bank account. A larger review of all the accounts being managed by the bookkeeper was conducted and further payments from both estates were discovered and the police were contacted. Mr Allison said a police investigation found 'over 200 payments disguised as payments for invoices' totalling £108,922.45 were made from the Bemesyde Estate account to Proudfoot between May 2012 and July 2022. The court heard the missing funds went unnoticed as estate bosses had previously allowed Proudfoot to buy products on their behalf and he would be later reimbursed. The fiscal said further payments amounting to more than £115,000 had also been made into Proudfoot's account under the reference of HMRC as he handled payments for two estate employees. The police investigation uncovered a similar scam involving the Auchlyne Estate where Proudfoot had managed to embezzle more than £200,000 between 2014 and 2022. Mr Allison said: 'Tax was being legitimately paid to HMRC by the accused but additional payments had been set and disguised as legitimate payments. "The police then reviewed the accused's own bank statements in an effort to see where the money had been spent and the overwhelming majority appears to have been spent on gambling. 'They identified the accused has accounts with both Bet 365 and Betfair and payments made to those accounts totals hundreds of thousands of pounds.' Proudfoot was arrested in June 2023 and was said to have given officers 'a full, frank and detailed account of his embezzlement' and had explained the methods he had used to take the money. Sheriff Julius Komorowski granted Proudfoot bail and deferred sentence for the preparation of social work reports to next month.
