02-06-2025
Embezzling mother who changed her name and swindled £500,000 from two different jobs by raiding OAPs' bank accounts is ordered to pay cash back
A greedy Scottish mother has been put behind bars after she swiped £500k from two businesses over the course of four years.
Stephanni Houston, also known as Bryden, had previously raided cash accounts of a blind lady aged 93 and an 89-year-old frail woman in her relentless pursuit of money.
She was sentenced to three years jail in 2023 at Keilmarnock Sheriff Court after having defrauded the pensioners at an Ayrshire care home out of thousands years earlier.
Now, prosecutors have been awarded a confiscation order of £81,589.86 - with the possibility more cash could be pursued in the future.
Speaking of the order, Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for Serious Casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), 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.'
Houston avoided jail in 2014 when she was ordered to pay back all of the £2425 she defrauded while working as an administrator for Berelands Care Home in Prestwick.
It comes as she had raided accounts belonging to three OAPs - a 93-year-old blind woman, a frail 89-year-old woman, and two men aged 83 and 91.
After admitting fraud at Ayr Sheriff Court, Houston was ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work and to repay the money within a year.
The court heard she had forged managers' signatures to take residents' money from the home between April 1 and December 21, 2013.
Houston's deceit was described by a sheriff as 'a serious offence against those who are the most vulnerable' and bosses reported having to compensate residents for their losses.
She told the Daily Record at the time: 'I feel hellish. I'm so ashamed of the mess I've made. I just want to say how sorry I am to the residents. It was a stupid mistake.'
But in a matter of years, Houston was ordered to prison as she betrayed two more employers.
The fraudster admitted emezzling £253,281.30 while working as an office administrator at Kelburne Construction in Kilmarnock from February 1 2017 to March 31 2021.
Months later she began the process of embezzling £262,987.68 in her job as a book-keeper for WM Donnelly and Co in East Kilbride, swiping the cash between May 17 2019 and March 31 2021.
A source close to the record said at the time it was 'clearly a greed thing' and pointed out colleagues had been 'scratching their heads' due to her Houston having a better car than her boss - a top-of-the-range Audi.
They added her name had been 'Bryden' when done for the nursing home fraud but Houston when she went to Kelburne.
The source said: 'Everyone got on fine with her in the office.
'She got a warning for the incident in the nursing home and got out of going to jail but she's obviously not shown any respect for the authorities or her employers.
'The day police came into the yard she was the one who showed them to the boss's office. She must have had a few heartbeats when the police car drew up that day.'
A compensation order in the sum of £41,610.83 was awarded to Wm Donnelly and Co Ltd. A second compensation order in the sum of £39,979.03, was awarded to Kelburn Construction.
