Woman jailed for defrauding company she worked for

Friday, July 31, 2026

A woman has been jailed after defrauding her employer of £50,000.

Donna Pope used the Ormskirk company credit card to buy holidays, pay for car insurance, phone bills and make Amazon orders amongst other purchases.

On one occasion, Pope (pictured below) visited B&Q to buy a work item with the company card. She also used that same company card to buy herself new radiators.

On another, her boss approached her to ask why transactions to Zara and Shein were showing in the bank statements.

Pope also used the company card to pay for her personal trainer, at one point openly admitting in the office that her ‘fitness lady’ hadn’t taken any money out of her personal account.

She travelled to both Amsterdam and Malaga in her final year working for the company – both times using the company card to pay for it. Her excuse? She hadn’t checked her personal accounts and didn’t know the money hadn’t come out.

Once confronted about her crimes, Pope went off sick, before leaving the company.

Her employer later reported the fraud to us.

Pope, 47, of Liverpool Road, Ormskirk, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was jailed at Preston Crown Court for 38 months.

In a Victim Impact Statement to the court, the victim said: “When I first began to suspect irregularities, Donna repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

“She gave excuses, including claiming she had accidentally connected her personal PayPal account to the business and that she would “sort it out.”

“These explanations were lies. She continued to deny the fraud for many months and left the company, citing she was offered another job that offered more flexibility.”

He continued: “Her actions have devastated my business, my finances, and my family’s sense of security. The emotional impact is ongoing. We are still dealing with the consequences every day, and the road to recovery, financially, physically, and emotionally remains uncertain.”

Pope was trusted by her employer. She was trusted to come to work, do her job, and be a good-standing employee. She was none of those things. Instead, she abused the trust her boss put in her for her own selfish gain.

Pope wasn’t buying things to survive – she was splashing company cash on holidays, personal trainers and shopping. She used the company’s money to uphold her lavish lifestyle.

We hope she uses her time behind bars to reflect on how her actions have impacted both her own, and more importantly her employer and colleagues’ lives.

If you suspect someone to be committing fraud, please report it to us. You can call 101 or report online.