A BOOKKEEPER from Redditch has been jailed for five years after she stole more than £600,000 from a family-run business.
Donna Rowand, 47, of Kemble Street was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court after she previously pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and false accounting.
Rowand used the funds she stole from the company to buy cars, concert tickets, cosmetic treatments and holidays.
She withdrew around £670,000 from Concept Display Systems (South West) Ltd between 2019 and 2023, eventually causing the firm to enter voluntary liquidation in 2023.
During her employment, Rowand created accounts for numerous fictional suppliers with similar names to real suppliers used by the company, as a way of concealing her activity.
The payments were then made to her own bank account.
She was also the sole user of the company credit card, and took about £46,000 from it during her employment.
The firm’s director John Stratton spoke to the Standard about the impact this has had on his life.
“It came as a complete shock. I had a good working relationship with her, we are a small team and were always talking being friendly in the office.”
The company, which was founded in 1992, has been losing money since 2020 – when Rowand started siphoning cash.
John was told by his accountants that the losses the company was experiencing were due to the pandemic, as the business closed for several weeks in 2020, and it had taken time to get back into production in 2021.
Because the cash that Rowand stole was spent on experiences and holidays, John is unlikely to get any money back.
“It has been a tough few years, the company was forced into liquidation, and even if we did get some money back, it would end up going to the liquidators anyway.”
John said he was lucky that some of his customers and staff stuck by him.
“Slowly we have been rebuilding, we previously employed 18 staff, now we have six.
“It has been hard on my mental health, but as we’ve all discovered over the last few years you can’t ruminate on the past, you have to move forward and look to the future.”
Det Con Lizzie Houldley said: “Wood abused her position for her own financial gain and defrauded her employer out of a substantial amount of money.
“Fraud investigations are often complex and lengthy but we were pleased to see Wood brought before the court, and for those who were defrauded to get justice.”
